This summer, 
we aren’t camping and hiking in the mountains. 
We’ve booked a moving truck, 
signed endless documents, 
and will spend our vacation packing, loading
and disposing of furniture. 

Then, of course, there’s the unloading and unpacking. 

This summer hasn’t offered us spacious days 
without to-do lists and deadlines looming. 

We don’t have resilient bodies and endless energy. 
Nor are we spared that awful feeling in the pit of our stomachs 
when surprised by 
another complication, 
another expense. 

This is hard, You say 
and hand me 
the most delicious peach I’ve ever tasted. 
This summer, 
the orchards are bursting with them. 

One summer, 
when I was little, 
my great aunt and uncle arrived from Switzerland. 
They were so happy to see us, 
she nearly suffocated me in her bountiful bosom, 
and he produced an endless supply of chocolate from his pockets. 

There is so much this summer  
doesn’t have for us, 
but all is not lost. 

Look out for it, You say, smiling. 

And I notice 
joy isn’t waiting until 
we’re all moved in 
but keeps arriving unannounced 
with peaches and hugs 
and chocolate in its pockets.

Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it when it runs by.
–Carl Sandburg

Credits and References: 
Packing by Becky Stern. Used with permission. 
This Summer by Esther Hizsa, 2025.
Chocolat by Chloé Chevalier. Used with permission.

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2025.
The unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013-2025.  http://www.estherhizsa.com