On mid-summer nights' dreams...

I must admit, I have not spent as many summers in America. Most summers, we flew back to Asia to catch up with extended families, relatives, and friends. I enjoy that alot, although I don't enjoy the sub-tropical hot, and very humid weather. I would rather it rain than shine, since I drag the sun burning my skin, frying me on a hot pan like a fish.

This summer, we chose to stay put. Some of the families are not flying back to Asia either. I guess, in this economy, it's more prudent to preserve cash than to spend $20k on a long summer vacation. I must say, summer classes in Asia (at least those ones that I find more interesting, rather than the ones that don't do much) are not as much cheaper than those in America. But there's more variety in summer camps to choose from in America. The kids enjoy it more, since all summer camps here have swimming and more outdoor activities. It could also be that, since they don't speak the language in Asia, they have not enjoyed the summer programs there as much.

As to myself, one of the things I discover this summer is less tangible. There are days when it's hot and humid here too; in fact, there are more hot, humid days than I remember in those few summers when we spent here. But at night, the south-facing windows always bring in cool breeze to cool us down, so much so that I've never had to turn on the A/C (which is good for the environment too). When we were in Asia, I can't recall a single night when we could sleep without closing the doors and turn up the A/C, to deal with not only the hot, humid weather, but also the ever-annoying mosquitoes. I get less tolerable to humidity, as I get older.

And then, there are the crickets and cicadas. There are quite some trees and bushes around where we live. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of sound (or noise, depending on whether you like it or not) they made. It's also surprising that I have never paid attention to that. I've come to appreciate the cicadas and the crickets chirping.

There are so many things in life, the little details that fly by us if we don't pay attention to them. The sounds they made are beautiful. Some nights, when I was putting the kids to bed, I would sometimes roll around with them a little chit-chatting with them, and we would have the lights all off, watching the silhouette of the trees waving in the breeze in the night sky, hearing the crickets and cicadas, it's so peaceful and happy. You can almost smell the trees in breeze. It takes all the stress in life away.