A Low-Cost, High-Fun Summer

10 ideas for the not-very-hardcore

Summertime, Mary Cassatt, 1894; a print of this hangs near our dinner table.

Dear Friends,

Recently I hiked a very short, very steep and rocky trail in our nearby mountains. I was really delighted, as I reached the summit, to find myself walking along a ridge with beautiful views of the valley to the west and delicate ferns growing all about my feet. Bees buzzed around the distinctive mountain laurel blossoms and squirrels scattered as I approached. It made me feel, happy, stretched, alive.

Not everybody likes hiking, and that’s fine and dandy. The reason I bring up this hike is not because everyone should hike, but because hiking is an example of the sort of thing that is possible to enjoy on two levels: the marketed level, and the level of universal right. That is, you can be outfitted in all the special gear and/or have all the expertise and experience, and that is good; but you also can experience something worthwhile in a (short) hike with little experience and nothing but this on hand:

And that is also good.

The great outdoors, like music, belongs to everybody.

In fact, many good things, like hiking or music, can be experienced at either a high financial cost or a low financial cost; moreover, they can be enacted at a high level or a low level. One such level may be, in some ways, objectively better than the other. But both are good.

Sure, if you’re backpacking, you will need some gear — I’m not saying that it’s bad to buy hiking gear (of course it isn’t!). What I mean is that sometimes we are intimidated out of trying to do the things that are actually *right there for us* because we either don’t have the cash to do them at Instagram level or we don’t have the experience, strength, time, or whatever else is needed to do the most hardcore version.

I am reminded again of my dean in college, who, when I was complaining that my bad knee kept me from hiking long distances like so many of my fellow students could, just looked at me and said: “So don’t hike long distances. Just hike a quarter of a mile."

So today, I want to share with you some of the ways that my husband and I try to make the summer fun without spending very much money or even being very good at anything summery. We’re not fabulous hosts or awesome hikers or even very good at grilling.

But maybe there are wonderful things out there to do as a family (and alone) that aren’t about being excellent (or spending money), but are a great deal of fun.

Read today’s essay here:

“This summer: low in cost, high in fun”

Your turn:

— What do you like to do in the summer that is free or low-cost?

— Have you ever changed your approach to summer for the better? What happened?

— What do you enjoy most in the warmer season (no wrong answers — it doesn’t even have to involve being outside!)?

Also, if you haven’t seen it yet, do pop over and check out Dr. Christopher Lane’s review of Slow Productivity from earlier this week!

And in case you missed it, you can read up on fictional fathers in advance of this Sunday’s celebration (in the U.S.) of dads: Good (and Bad) Fathers: Six Perspectives

Have a lovely day,

-Dixie