Summer, please don’t leave. Stay a whole longer, I beg you. If I find a groundhog, can we pretend the same rules apply for a shadow?

I’ve loved you this year, more than in years past. You brought a new garden this year and new friendships. We shared time on many an outdoor patio and sleeping beneath the sun in hammocks. You shared to recipes and new farmer’s markets, fresh vegetables and summer flavors.

Please oh please, don’t leave me yet. I’ve loved our time together, walking so late in the day feeling refreshed in the early morning as the sun rises. If you must go, why do you feel the need to take the sunshine, too? Please stay.

We’ve shared road trips and cruising with the windows down. We’ve enjoyed picnics and lunches outside. We even shared those nights at concerts on the dock. Please don’t leave me, I’m not ready to say goodbye.

You were so kind this year, never burning me, but shielding me with a mildness this state hasn’t seen in years. Why would you walk away from a memory like that. Oh please stay.

We can enjoy football together and sip lemonade under night sky. You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you?