Written by Samuel T. Flores

Winter has come and gone, or the Northeast monsoons have come and gone, and it is time to feel the warm embrace of the sun as we say hello to summer.

Yes, summer, that wonderful time of the year where we go out and play in the sand, dance our way through the night, and have that midsummer love affair that ends with regrets, morning-after pills, and getting tested for ALL the things. Oh, the thrill of it all!

If not for that one pesky virus that, in the span of a year, infected the world over and brought us all into lockdown mania – the likes of which we haven’t seen since Contagion. It won’t turn us into rabid husks of what was once a human like 28 Days Later, nor did we end up in a The Walking Dead-style apocalypse. Nope, SARS-NCoV2, the fancy name of the virus causing COVID-19, made governments look like idiots, destroyed what was supposed to be resilient healthcare systems, and made everyone in the Western world scramble for good ‘ol toilet paper while dipper-loving, bidet-worshipping Easterners laughed at their misery. And let’s not forget everyone’s favorite conspiracy theorists and virus deniers that only makes the fight harder!

But that was a whole year ago. Now, lockdowns are loosening up, tourist attractions are up and running again, businesses kick starting their offerings, and the vaccines are finally rolling into our shores. But the medical front liners get the good first, and we plebians are left to wait until the middle of the year. So, while we wait for a jab, what’s there to do with our summer holiday?

For the introverts at heart, you can always trust the power of lord Gaben and look for games on Steam that might sate your wanderlust without leaving the comforts of home. Netflix is waving over the horizon, also ready to keep you company through these difficult times like the year that passed. If you got a smartphone around, try exploring some of the games being offered on the App Store or Google Play. Or you could, you know, follow up on that book you stopped reading since last year, collecting dust on the bookshelf with the rest of your collection that never saw the warmth of an LED light bulb.

Extroverts, well, Zoom can only do so much to help you scratch that itch. And hey, we can’t blame you for it, nothing really beats hanging out with friends. If you have a car and someone you know has an open area, why not call the gang and carpool your way to that friend’s house and chillax. Oh, don’t forget the mandatory 18-inch pizza and some drinks to wash it all down! Or just cruise along the mean streets of the Metro and just talk about the things that matter to all of you with Moira or Ben&Ben playing on the radio (again, not sponsored by Moira or Ben&Ben). Perhaps you wouldn’t have as much fun as your introverted brethren, but at least the country’s slowly opening up while trying its hardest to contain the virus. . . maybe.

What if gaming is just too boring, reading is a chore, and you don’t have a car around or don’t know someone who has one? What now? Are you condemned to just baking in the scorching heat and pray to the heavens to end your suffering?

Well, it’s not an easy question. In fact, with events changing rapidly daily, there’s no magic bullet answer to that. Maybe these suggestions are already outdated, like the current generation of vaccines because COVID unlocked the variations perk.

Maybe this summer is going to be another blank canvass for you to leave your personal mark on. Perhaps, you already have your own weird and wonderful ideas on spending these next few months of sun and wet heat. Or, by some miracle or divine intervention, we get more vaccines and we start our vaccination drive much earlier. We can’t tell where the winds will blow next, can we? But maybe that’s what this summer is all going to be about.

Take a deep breath, slow down a little, and let yourself follow the wind. Where it takes you, we don’t know, but take that risk anyway. If it’s heading to a bad place, then ring up your circle of friends and cry on their shoulders virtually. If it’s heading to places you never saw before, then keep riding it and share the joy with everyone else. If it’s just circling you around loftily, maybe you just have to ride it out and take a nap while you’re at it.

This summer isn’t your old normal summer anymore, we all woke up from that thinking last year. But like every sunrise, it signals a new day and a new chance at making it something special. So, play that game, read that book, schedule that planned home invasion, or just lay down on your bed and let your own mind bring you to parts unknown. You control your summer, and no virus can ever take that fact away.