Summer spells and don't forget to preorder!

Jun 18, 2022 12:01 pm

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Just a heads up--if you wanted to grab A Series of Unfortunate Meet Cutes at the low preorder price of $0.99, you better hurry! The book officially releases on Monday, June 20, and that's when the price goes up to $3.99.

Preorder now!

Now, let's talk about summer, a season that is well under way for me since it's 98° and humid outside. (That's 36° celsius, for everyone else on the planet that doesn't use odd forms of measurement.)

I've already been bitten by a tick too. That's not something I recommend, but it happens every single summer at my parents' house because they have a million trees, a wood pile, and various tall grasses my dog drags me through.

I mentioned last week that all my summer memories and ideas about what summer should be come from my school years. For context, I was a latchkey kid, so most summers I was home alone with my brother while my parents were at work. We lived in the suburban sprawl area of our city, and it wasn't really developed yet, so there were tons of empty lots and open fields.

If I wasn't outside playing in an algae-filled creek with my friends, I was inside watching sitcom reruns on UHF channels since we didn't have cable. My mom would buy tons of food my brother and I could consume with minimal effort, and my brother would literally eat all the good stuff (Fruit Roll-Ups, Little Debbies, Pop-Tarts, and Doritos) the day my mom brought it home, leaving me with bologna and cheese sandwiches and caffeine-free Coke.

Summer is still a time I think of as slow and magical. Or, if not magical, perhaps capable of producing magic is more accurate. The days were so long and I had nothing to do so there were nothing but possibilities.

Oh, to be a bored kid again...

I think there are little things we can all add to our summer to make it feel more fun or magical. And because I'm the sort of witch who believes that everything can be a spell if you put the intention behind it, I thought I'd share these magical spell ingredients and rituals.

Try any of these the next time your summer is feeling a little mundane. I know not everyone can take a day off or sleep in. And I also know it's not necessarily safe to congregate in large groups right now. But I hope there's something on this list that works for you.

To make it magical, simply think of your summer magic intention before you start. You can think about how you want a relaxing summer day, and keep that in your head as you start whichever activity appeals to you. You can focus on reliving a childhood memory. You can do all the things on the list and just have fun.

There aren't a lot of rules for this kind of magic. Just have a good time.

Summer Spell Ingredients and Rituals for Instant Magic

Eat Otter Pops or any popsicle
Apply any sunscreen (Hawaiian Tropic has a particularly summery scent)
Sleep in
Watch daytime TV like a latchkey kid
Burn your bare feet on hot concrete
Read all day (I recommend A Series of Unfortunate Meet Cutes for that!)
Eat snow cones (Do you have snow cone stands all over your city too?)
Stay up late
Roast marshmallows over a DIY mini fire pit
Drink homemade lemonade
Run through a sprinkler
Make fluffy flip flops with cheap flip flops and and old t-shirts
Tend a garden or a potted plant or two
See a cheap movie matinee
Enjoy a watermelon
Pelt your loved ones with water balloons
Make a pitcher of Kool-Aid, even though you know it's sugar water
Cook latchkey kid delicacies (frozen pizza, boxed mac and cheese, etc.)
Ride a bike or go skating
Go exploring in storm drain culverts
Pick wildflowers

If you happen to try any of these, let me know! Take a picture and post it on social media and tag me. I'd love to see what you get up to.

I've been all about the cheap movie matinees myself. If you can make it happen during the work day, the theaters are practically empty and I do love how big businesses have the best air conditioning when it's really hot out.