We've hit what I call the mid-point of summer though officially we've still got till mid-to-late September until the season is officially over.
Like anyone else, I've got my time stamps on what I really call summer, fall, winter and spring.
Summer begins when school lets out and the pool opens, even though it's still officially spring.
Fall begins when school starts back in August and the calendar turns to football season.
Winter begins the first day I turn on my heater and spring (and the madness) always begins on March 1.
So back to the mid-point of summer, the indicator for that is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was played on July 9 in Cleveland.
So what's in front of us from now until the start of fall football camp for the Siloam Springs football team on Aug. 5?
The answer to that is simple:
• Soak up as much summer as you can
• Enjoy your favorite baseball team in the evenings
• Go see the Northwest Arkansas Naturals play at Arvest Ballpark
• Get caught up on all the TV shows and movies you've missed out on
• Read a good book
• As Herald-Leader columnist Maylon Rice likes to say: "Eat fried chicken" and "enjoy a tall vanilla ice cream cone."
• Fire up the grill and cook a wonderful steak or chicken
• Go swimming at the Family Aquatic Center or Kayak Park, or whatever watering hole suits your fancy
• Cuddle up with your kids
• Go on one last road trip -- my crew is headed east of Atlanta to visit my folks, and hopefully take in my first trip to SunTrust Park to see the Braves play.
• Go work in your yard or garden and then sit outside when it cools down and enjoy how beautiful it looks
• Drink plenty, plenty, plenty of water and maybe a cold soda every once in a while
You know you should try and do all these things when it isn't summer also, but it's good to have a reminder from time to time.
Yep, Aug. 5 is approaching very fast and from there it's going to be a whirlwind with football, football special sections, golf, tennis, cross country, volleyball, soccer and all other fall sports coming up.
Before we know it, we'll be talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas.
-- Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-Leader. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Sports on 07/17/2019