Cheap at Twice the Price

This is what I dream of in February.
When there is snow up to my armpits and the wind cuts through my coat and the slush and the cold are making me want to hibernate, what gets me through is knowing that the summer will arrive. And the best part is, summer is free. It costs nothing, but is infinitely wonderful.

Here is a sunset over Lake Huron. This sort of gorgeousness happens every night. For free.

I would wager that there are few places more gorgeous than southwestern Ontario in the summertime. Last year, we had a rather cold, petulant, sulky sort of a summer, which makes this year all the more delicious. It has been hot and sunny and utterly beautiful for weeks already, and it's only the end of July.
We've had some very hot and humid weather recently, which makes for some pretty theatrical thunderstorms. And rainbows. This was last week, one night after dinner. Again, totally free of charge.

Yesterday, Big Liver Girl and I took various children to the beach. The wind was up, so the waves were high, providing a solid afternoon's entertainment for all involved.
Here I am, testing the undertow before letting the kids in.

And here are three of the kids wave running and having a ball. Despite the cool wind, the water was incredibly warm. Warm for a lake in Canada, anyway.

Wavy lakes are fabulous entertainment, and again, free.

Here is the sky last night, from my back yard.

This is how I spent the last week of my vacation, and every unclaimed moment since. And since I got that book out of the library, that week was pretty cheap. The only cost was the glass of ice cold riesling that's just out of camera range.

Summer gives good value, no question.