Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Soaking up Sizzlin' Summer Sun

Summer: summer sun, summer fun, summer fun in the sun, summer sizzle. What does ‘summer’ conjure up in your mind? For me it’s primarily fun in the sun through summer festivals.

This year I attended my first Caribbean Festival parade (www.caribbeandays.ca), a short – appreciate that! – colourful, musical parade as it headed towards lower Lonsdale to Waterfront Park.

My favourite: Harmony Arts Festival, a 10-day cultural event in West Vancouver (www.harmonyarts.ca) where I get to hear free outdoor concerts with entertainers/bands such as Jim Byrnes or Locarno, watch movies like Midnight in Paris (with the moon suspended above as the perfect backdrop) and, one of my favourites, Billy Elliot in the park by the ocean, dance under the day or night sky, and witness arts and crafts displays.

I also saw two outdoor movies at David Lam Park this year: The Princess Bride (a classic movie described as a romantic comedy adventure fantasy film with surprisingly quite a number of men present), and Dirty Dancing with not various couples up front before the show demonstrating similar movie moves, but also a number of “ooh’s” and whistles when Patrick Swayze came onscreen.

Recently, I went down to Kirtan Vancouver at Second Beach (www.kirtanvancouver.com) as I love chanting in Sanskrit and was amazed at how many people I bumped into that I knew. That in itself was such a sweet delight!

When I witness – hear and see – people playing music and dancing, my soul feels so happy and alive. Does that happen to you?

Feeling light and free is how I like to be and summer has a tendency to do that. With the sun lengthening its stay, I linger beneath its warmth soaking up its soul-heartening rays.

Let’s enjoy the rest of summer what’s left of it as long as we can. Last year Vancouver enjoyed a beautiful Indian summer that extended till and including Thanksgiving weekend. Now that is rare indeed!

How would you like to be as you soak up the last rays of summer?

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