This column first appeared in CityView Magazine’s “The Summer Issue” June 2026 edition.

It doesn’t matter when the solstice occurs; it’s an arbitrary starting gun of summer, tied to the position of our planet and the sun. Truth is, summer climate arrives here sometime in May and is well ensconced by the beginning of June. 

No matter what the calendar says, it’s time to make the most of it.

Now, the classic song may or may not have it right about summertime: The livin’ isn’t necessarily easy. It can be downright hard, even when the warm, balmy breezes blow, and the sun is kissing your face. These are challenging times. 

Thanks to our noisy political divides, we Americans aren’t feeling all that mellow lately, and in this already raucous political year, a lot of folks are regularly boiling over. 

Hence my prescription for summer: Slow down, chill out, and give yourself a heaping helping of peace and contentment. Yeah, I know—that’s not easy. But we need to try. We’re getting too belligerent for our own good, which you’ve probably noticed in the past year or two—or maybe for the past quarter-century. Politics has gone beyond nasty, way past the art of compromise and making government work.

Instead, we’ve stalled in an endless bloodbath that too often reminds me of the sort of hooliganism that once plagued high-level soccer matches in Europe. Partisanship is so extreme that we’re always on the brink of violence, and sometimes well past that point. It’s not pretty and it shouldn’t make anyone proud.

I find it especially jarring that the political divide has reached down to the local level, to places where it doesn’t even make sense—county commissioners and judgeships, to name just two. Local government should be about efficiently meeting the needs of the people—all of them, regardless of their political affiliations or other beliefs. But now, everything from the presidency to local court seats is too often poisoned by political ill-feeling instead of what we really need: a government that’s here to meet our needs, run efficiently, and serve the greatest number of people possible. (And Cumberland County’s current board of commissioners appears to be doing just that, despite the burden of party labels.)

I think a lot of political combativeness is an aberration, that most people don’t act this way about anything except their politics. I’ve been a journalist for more than half a century, and I spend a lot of time talking to people. Even though I’m mostly retired, I can’t break that habit. So when I’m in the grocery store, in a restaurant, at a gas station, or walking on a beach, I usually end up in a conversation with people I meet—random strangers with whom I may have nothing in common but humanity. I don’t talk politics with them (or religion, or any other topics that can easily lead to confrontation). I talk about what’s around us. About food. Or the birds in the nearest tree. Or the weather system headed our way. It almost always leads to an easy, comfortable chat that leaves me, and my new friend, smiling—and reinforces my belief that most people are good, decent folks who are doing their best to lead happy lives and take care of their families. 

If they do bring up politics, I’m truthful: I long ago left political partisanship behind—a pox on both their houses! I’ve been a political independent, an unenrolled voter, since sometime late in the last century, and I’ll go to my grave that way. I’ve voted for Republicans in that time, and Democrats, and maybe one or two Libertarians. I vote for people whose positions make sense, not noise. I highly recommend the strategy.

And now that it’s summer, please join me in a bit of disengagement. Really: just let go. The politics will still be there in September, and you should be refreshed and ready to seek common sense, not reflexively choosing a party label instead of a good person who could do the best job for the greatest number of people.

Make yourself a bucket list. Choose a foray to the beach or the mountains—or both. Turn off the propaganda machines that are poorly disguised as news purveyors. Fire up your grill and invite some friends and neighbors. Feed them well, as long as they promise not to talk politics. Go to a baseball game. Grow some magnificent flowers. Take your dog for a long walk on a new trail. Take up bird watching. Ride a horse. Talk with strangers about what’s right in the world, not what’s wrong. Smile relentlessly. And remind yourself that we’re all in this together, so it’s better to make friends than enemies.

Happy summertime!