Savoring the Last Days of Summer: Carrying Warmth Into the Winter
- Lynn Danchuk
- Aug 24
- 3 min read
On the East Coast, summer feels like more than just a season—it’s a state of being. It’s the warmth of the sun on your skin after a long winter. It’s family cookouts where laughter lingers in the evening air. It’s fresh gardens bursting with tomatoes, herbs, and flowers. It’s the salty breeze at the shore and the feeling that, for a few golden months, life slows just enough to savor.
As summer begins to wind down, it’s natural to feel a bit of nostalgia. But instead of rushing forward, this is an invitation to pause and savor—to hold onto the richness of summer in ways that will sustain us through the colder months ahead.
Positive psychology teaches us that savoring—fully noticing, appreciating, and extending positive experiences—builds joy and resilience. When we savor moments, they imprint more deeply on our memory and can be called back when we need them most.
How to Savor Summer Now
Slow Down Outdoors: Take an evening walk and notice the way the late-summer sun hits the trees or sit outside with your morning coffee and really let yourself feel the warmth.
Celebrate Summer Flavors: Whether it’s corn on the cob, grilled peaches, or fresh tomatoes, let yourself taste them fully. Eat slowly, notice the textures, and connect them to memories of summer meals with loved ones.
Capture the Everyday: Write down a few sentences each evening about a moment that felt like “summer” to you. These little notes become powerful reminders later in the year.
Make it Social: Plan one more gathering—a cookout, a picnic, or even a simple porch sit with friends. Summer is about connection, and closing the season with intentional time together makes it easier to carry forward.
How to Carry Summer into Winter
When the days grow shorter and the air turns crisp, we don’t have to let summer slip away completely. With intention, we can bring those warm moments into the colder months:
Preserve the Harvest: One of my favorite rituals is making homemade tomato sauce from my garden. I freeze and can jars so that in the middle of winter, when the snow is falling, I can open one up and be instantly transported back to the garden—hands stained with the smell of fresh tomatoes plucked from the vine. The scent, the color, the taste—it’s pure sunshine in a jar.
Create Seasonal Anchors: Keep a summer candle, seashells, or a favorite outdoor photo nearby in winter. These small sensory cues bring back the feeling of long summer days.
Practice Mental Time Travel: Positive psychology encourages us to revisit positive memories vividly. Close your eyes and imagine your feet in the sand or the smell of the grill at a cookout. This simple act can lift your mood instantly.
Plan Ahead for Joy: Use the slower months to plan next summer’s garden, trips, or gatherings. Anticipation is one of the most powerful forms of happiness.
Final Thought
Summer’s magic doesn’t have to end when the calendar turns. By savoring the last warm days now and carrying pieces of the season into winter, we create a thread of joy that sustains us all year long.
So before the last firefly fades, ask yourself: What piece of summer do I want to hold onto, and how will I carry it forward into the seasons ahead?
✨
What about you? Do you have a ritual or tradition that keeps summer close, even in the heart of winter? Share it—I’d love to hear.
Warmly.....
Lynn
I do!! other than capturing jars of goodness in the way of preserves or sauces, I love to do later night concerts and get lost the the light lasting longer. But my favorite way to savor summer is to put sweaters and linens and other laundry out to dry in the sunshine and tuck them away into drawers smelling like pure sunshine to pull out when it's cold and dreary <3. Great post!!