Flip-Flops and Overgrown Grass

June arrived like a friend who opened the curtains before you were fully awake. Suddenly, the days were longer, the light hung around until almost bedtime, and people began making ambitious statements again.

June is full of intentions. “This summer, I’m going to…” and “Now that the weather’s nice…”

It’s the month of flip-flops and overgrown grass. Of sunscreen purchased with confidence and forgotten in the car. Of tomatoes that somehow survive despite inconsistent watering and motivational speeches delivered from the back porch.

There is something about June that makes people believe they can begin again. Maybe it’s the light. We endure the darkness of winter, and spring is about cleaning. But June? June quietly asks: “What would it feel like to actually live a little?”

Of course, most of us are not running barefoot through wildflower fields while acoustic music plays in the background. We’re answering emails in parking lots. We’re trying to remember if the hamburger buns are still in the freezer. We’re figuring out if we have time to mow the ever-growing grass.

Yet, the evening air invites conversations with people around a campfire. Despite the predictable Alabama humidity, we open our windows. And even the most serious adults suddenly start discussing vacations they probably won’t take. June reminds us that joy does not always arrive as a grand event. Sometimes it arrives as fireflies; as watermelon dripping down our chins; as pushing our canoe into Little River.

Maybe that’s the real invitation of June. Not to reinvent yourself completely or become a brand-new person by July. But perhaps to honor the parts of yourself that winter made quiet. The lighter parts. The hopeful parts. The parts that still believe life can surprise you.

So before June races past in a blur of cookouts, calendars, and complaints about humidity, perhaps the better question is this:

What would happen if you allowed yourself to fully embrace it all right now, while the light is still lingering and while the world is blooming around you and while June is inviting you to come outside and enjoy the gorgeousness of the mountain?