moments like this.

a song to set the scene // can’t take my eyes off of you (i love you baby) by ms. lauryn hill

My Heath blizzard was balanced precariously on my spoon.

Arm outstretched towards my gem, who was singing his heart out to Ms. Lauryn Hill, I smiled in awe as the ice cream made contact with his mouth.

The windows were down, the midnight sun was setting, and it was summertime.

We had nowhere to be and nothing to do.

Could there have been a more perfect moment than this?

Even sitting here, in my denim cut-offs, window all the way open, the wind allowing my blooming lilacs to waft into this room in which I write, I can feel it: summertime.

And damn I’ve never felt so good.

It’s days like these, moments like this, that remind me why summertime in Alaska is truly one of the most spectacular places to be.

After the longest, the coldest, the darkest and most depressing winter, we were finally graced with a weekend of heavenly heat.

As I took advantage of every possible minute to be outside and soaking in the sunshine, I also enjoyed the little things that make summer… summer.

Late night drives to DQ for a blizzard, afternoon delights before work, lunch on the picnic blanket, watching my gem care for his garden, and hikes on the hillsides and mountains that surround us.

The days are filled and full of all things we don’t get to enjoy for 80% of the year.

Because for us, we’re already halfway through summer.

Summertime in Alaska is short, perhaps the shortest season of them all. So while it can pass in the blink of an eye (like how is it already end of June?), it also makes its time here that much more rich, fulfilling, and special.

In the time it takes for a Heath blizzard to drip off the spoon as it makes its way into your lover’s mouth, summer comes just as quickly as it goes.

So cherish it, take advantage of it, and please clap for the man singing his heart out to Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Cause it’s moments like that that make summer… summer.