Summer List

I like calling these things lists instead of memes. I don't even know how to pronounce that word. Is it "mem" or "me-me"? Either way, as we all know, I like making lists.

4 things you like about summer
1. Warm summer nights. We don't get too many of them here because we're so close to the bay.
2. Driving on these warm summer nights, with Led Zeppelin blasting, windows down. Granted, this is through the streets of sleepy Alameda these days, but preferably long country roads in the soft evening light.
3. Long days. It just seems like there is so much more time during the summer.
4. Sandals. I would rather never wear socks, actually.

4 of your favorite vacation destinations
1. The redwoods, Northern California.
2. A river. Anywhere.
3. Camping. Anywhere.
4. Oregon coast.

4 of your favorite summer foods
1. Potato salad. Why haven't I made this yet this year?
2. Corn on or off the cob.
3. Fresh tomatoes. I am crazy about heirloom tomatoes.
4. Peaches and nectarines. I eat one or the other almost every day they're in season.

4 favorite summer reads
1. Scruples, Judith Krantz. I am not really a Judith Krantz fan but this book is a lot of fun.
2. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, Fannie Flagg. This book is meant for a long hot afternoon with a glass of iced tea by your side.
3. Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen. Beautiful, meandering, evocative, informative.
4. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Because who wouldn't love a summer-whites croquet party with the beautiful Daisy teasing you mercilessly?

4 things to avoid during the summer
1. Ironically, the sun. I do not do well with direct, hot sun. I'm a warm-shade kind of girl.
2. Being stuck in traffic.
3. Street festivals. Too many drunk people and bad music.
4. My half-dressed elderly dirty-old-man neighbor.