Summer is a time to relax and enjoy. We sit on the porch eating dinner, enjoying the warmth, and listening to the crickets chirping. It is summer's music.

There comes the time when the chirping stops and even though summer has already ended (school beginning is the de facto standard), the crickets signal the official end of the season with their silence. It's a sad time when you realize they've stopped.

We've just returned from a very relaxing trip and I'm excited to hold onto my very positive, summer-like sense of well being. The recipe? Sunshine and ocean and natural beauty were the main ingredients. Add in a very simple day plan, good food, lots of movement, and time to read and just mellow. Leave out the news, politics, television, and other negativity (well, maybe a pinch or two now and then). Voilà, peaceful easy feeling.

How long can I hold on to it? Similar resolutions to stay the course have tanked in the past but this time feels different. So let's see if I can have my cake and eat it too. Back to work, but still on the beach. Let's keep those crickets chirping.