What We'll Miss About Summer

Save this as a snapshot for next year. (Image Credit: Matt Attic)

As we noted earlier this morning, today is the beginning of Astronomical Fall. Last year we ran an exhaustive post of the things we love about autumn. We're fairly certain we left no stone unturned there and didn't want to revisit it.

Instead, we wanted to have fun with the notion of summer in Chicago and how brief it seems. One day you're wearing long johns on June 1. The next thing you know it's September and you're digging the same long johns out from storage. So we decided to list the things we'll miss about the peak weeks between late June and mid-August we call summer around these parts. Here we go.

• The ability to BBQ without wearing a coat (a little cold or snow ain't going to stop us from grilling meats).
• Stargazing in the middle of the night after it's cooled off from a hot day.
• Sweaty weekend afternoon porch/stoop beers.
• Thighs, particularly the muscular, lightly hairy, soccer-playing variety of thighs.
• Ice-cold Red Stripe.
• Al fresco dining
• No schlepping a coat around
• Longer days
• Outdoor festivals (we bitch about how many there are but they're nice)
• Patios
• We won't miss seeing men's feet in sandals.
• Warm breezes, warm nights, not bracing for a cold wind slap in the face when we exit a building.
• Summer produce
• Outdoor farmers markets
• Baseball (although the Cubs and Sox seemed to have given up in the spring).
• Long bike rides without having to layer for the cold.
• Bike rides at sunrise
• Millennium Park in summer.