A Perfect Balance

Summer has always been one of my favorite seasons. When I was a child, my family spent the summer at an upstate bungalow colony to escape the city’s heat – my mom and brother and I would move up for the whole sumer and dad would come every weekend after the work week. Then there was sleep away camp – with days filled with general swim, archery, softball games, visits to the county fair, reading True Confession  magazines during “bunk activity” and where life-long friends were made and life lessons learned. Those innocent  summer days of my childhood may have passed, but my love for summer still holds strong.

Summer is a time to kick back, relax and take things a little slower. It’s a time to reflect upon the months that have passed and to gear up and energize for the balance of the year to come. It’s a time to take time out for yourself – learn something new, read a good book or two (or three or four!), stop and smell the flowers (or plant them!) and just slow down.

There are so many things to do in the summer that help rejuvenate and add balance to our lives. Here are some of the things that I love to do. Please leave a comment below with your favorite summer activities.

1. Go to the beach and read a good book
2. Go for a bike ride
3. Yoga outdoors
4. Swim in a lake or the ocean
5. Hang out in my garden
6. BBQ’s!
7. Play tennis
8. Wear a pretty sundress and have an outdoor meal or cocktail
9. Go scuba diving!
10. Go sailing
11. Explore and see or do something new! (below is a description of my something new for July!)

On a recent bike ride along the Hudson River,  my friends and I rode up to the little red lighthouse that sits under the George Washington Bridge. In all the years I have lived in NYC and crossed the GW Bridge, I never knew this charming little lighthouse existed!  According to the plaque on the site, it was originally known as Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse and was built in 1921 and decommissioned in 1932. According to The Historic House Trust, a not-for-profit organization that works in tandem with the NYC Department of Parks, it was actually built in 1880 and moved to the site under the bridge in 1921. It was immortalized in the children’s book, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge by Hildegard H. Swift. It is the last surviving lighthouse on Manhattan Island.

Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge, NYC. The last surviving lighthouse on Manhattan Island.

If you like to bike, check this historic landmark out. Want a cool t-shirt or tank top to bike in? Check out the Life is Balance Cycle the Distance biking shirts here.