I Agree with Henry

I agree with American author Henry James: "Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." I've been taking some randomly scheduled days off from work this summer as an opportunity to pursue my writing and to spend time with Larry and with friends. At least a portion of each of those days is spent simply relaxing and reading in the rocking chair on the sun porch. There is just something about a summer afternoon that draws me to exhale and to simply be. It's not as if it should have to be a seasonal thing or that I should have to somehow get permission to spend time doing nothing, but summer afternoons just seem to be made for letting time pass by without my exerting too much energy. In the delightful, little Abbey Press book, Slow-down Therapy by Linus Mundy and R.W. Alley (1990, ISBN # 0-87029-229-3), Tip Number 11 states: "Allow yourself time to be lazy and unproductive. Rest isn't a luxury; it's a necessity." So, as I enjoy this summertime, when the livin's indeed easy, I'll relish those afternoons in the rocking chair doing absolutely nothing, but rocking.