Green with envy that is.

Let’s back up… Summer has definitely arrived in Winthrop! After a long cold winter and a chilly spring, the town came alive this past week. I’ve always loved summers in Winthrop. The town is small enough that everyone takes to walking everywhere and every other street seems to be on the water.

Every weeknight as soon as I pop out of the tunnel from Boston, my windows go down and I soak in the sunshine and salt air. I drive over the Belle Isle bridge into Winthrop and see ladies watering their gardens, customers leaving the local seafood stop with greasy bags of fried clams and onion rings, and smell charcoal grills firing up for evening barbecues.

And the weekends are even livelier. There’s not a single parking spot available up and down the beaches and the landing by the yacht club is jam packed. Driving is an obstacle course avoiding dad’s with coolers, mom’s with beach chairs, and kids with boogie boards and colorful floats. Teenagers sunbathe on the beach wall wearing next to nothing and cruise the strip with all car windows down and music blaring!

And where am I? In a third floor bedroom with no air conditioning painting the walls and sanding the floors. My mother was manically digging up dandelions and my poor husband and father spent the last 5 days hanging blue board on every square inch of exposed wall.

Not exactly basking in the glow of the summertime. But it is hard to get myself too down. We are after all building our dream home.

So even when I’m driving back to my parents house drenched in sweat and caked in sawdust, I smile at the couple crossing the street by Twist and Shake, laughing and licking giant ice cream cones, because I know that will be us for so many summers to come in this lovely little town.