Summer.

Wet hair on a bare back. Shaved ice, sugar water, and coconut scent. The charred skin of a squash flaking onto the everyday plates from the ‘70s. Cicadas whirring. Knees shiny with sun glimmer. Left side of the face puckered, eye squinched, cheek in a grimace, and right hand cocked above the brow. A circle skirt, a hem you hardly feel, a floral ruffle. Poplin, eyelet, linen. Open windows. Ceiling fans. Falling down in a field. Firmness of a heart-shaped berry giving way, seeds between teeth, just a little tart, just a little grassy. Furry skin, juice dripping off flesh still clinging to the pit.

Laughter cascading off a porch. Bare feet under the swing. Grey gorgeous dusks when the light seems reluctant to leave. Dark silver water peeling away from the bow like mercury, smooth plunk of an oar the only thing disturbing the stillness. Warm rain, generous thunder. Glass pitcher on the rail, tea bag strings tied to the handle. Reclining. Leaning into your back foot, whizzing across the lake, popping your knees, hips steady, spray on calf. A towel warm on the chaise lounge. Boom boxes and speed boats. The crack of wood resonating deep in rubber-coated cork center. One lone drip of sweat on a freckled nose. Big dark plastic glasses, headscarves, hands up, top down. A smile you just can’t wipe off the face all the way down in the pit of your stomach.

1. Ron Sexsmith and Don Kerr, Lemonade Stand
2. The Thrills, Deckchairs And Cigarettes
3. Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, Tropical Hot Dog Night
4. Billie Holiday, Sunbonnet Blue (And A Little Straw Hat)
5. The Elected, Would You Come With Me
6. Fountains of Wayne, Radiation Vibe
7. Loudon Wainwright III, The Swimming Song
8. Band of Horses, I Go to the Barn Because I Like the
9. Fruit Bats, Lives Of Crime
10. Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil, Cinema novo
11. The Beach Boys, Cool Cool Water
12. The Flaming Lips, It's Summertime
13. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Details Of The War
14. Love, Orange skies mono
15. The National, All the wine
16. Modest Mouse, Float On
17. M. Ward, Here Comes The Sun Again
18. Bruce Springsteen, The River
19. Jane's Addiction, Classic Girl
20. Big Star, Hung Up with Summer
21. King Sunny Ade, Sunny Ti De (complete 5 song medley)
22. Jens Lekman, A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill