barefoot lemonade

The title for this post encapsulates my two absolute favorite things about summer. Especially having migrated to the frigid north, my barefoot time each year is significantly more limited and therefore, infinitely more precious. Lemonade, I suppose I could have at any time of year, but...I believe it to be a world wide understanding that lemonade in best is summer because it provides such refreshment in the heat and humidity.

Sidebar: Before we get too far into this journey, I feel it only fair to warn any readers of my affinity for metaphors. It can get outrageous - but it happens. Onward...

So barefoot lemonade, yes? Yes. But also, not at all why this post is so named. After starting this blog a few weeks ago, this barefoot girl stepped on a whole pile of nails that life left right in her way. Recalling the details would only serve to further my desire for "woe-is-me" attention - something I genuinely struggle with in everyday life, so we will leave them out. Let's just suffice it to say, bed bugs, burns, moves, salmonella, and more of the like hit hard. On right after another, I felt nail after nail to my barefoot soul...or sole.

And then, at the end of the week, when I couldn't take any more, I got to wake up at 5:30 and prepare for what would be a (n extraordinarily steamy) 16 hour work day.

Yep, you read that right. I got to.

Often times the nails I mentioned earlier are more commonly referred to as life's lemons. "When life hands you lemons..."

What do you do? Tradition would dictate "make lemonade."

While I would agree, more frequently than not, those who are kind enough to remind us of this 100 year old adage overlook the small fact that lemonade made from just lemons falls short of appetizing or refreshing. For those of you who have never made lemonade from scratch, I strongly recommend against making it without two other ingredients. Sugar and water. So simple. But so necessary.

And that first 16 hour day? That was the sugar. Or at least the first of it. Walking onto grounds, greeting patrons, playing with other performers, telling stories for hours- it all felt like coming home. Somewhere I had never been but had always felt I should be.

Life handed me a bit more sugar as the week went by and so I spent a good deal of time thinking about this lemonade metaphor. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how wondrously fitting it is. You see, to make lemonade you need three things - the bitter, the sweet, and a basic life force. Much like life.

Life contains the good, the bad, and the average. So let's start with the average.

We all have basic needs. Food, shelter, water, and preferably income or financial stability. On top of that, hobbies. For some people, reading is a necessity. For others, it's socializing. It could be many things like sports, faith, gardening, traveling, music. We all have a necessary life force. It sustains and shapes our interactions with the world in a way that is almost invisible since it seems to be so inherently a part of who we are. We all need water - literally and metaphorically.

Then there is the bitter. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Flat tires, lost jobs, bad hair days, empty bank accounts, cancer, finding out your child has lice, car accidents, losing a friend, bad grades, realizing the toilet paper roll is empty after you sit down... any and everything that can go wrong. If not for, then for someone you love. And once you hit a certain age, it seems as though it never stops. The bitter is all around you. Life's lemons  - sometimes big, sometimes small, and almost always sour if they are standing alone.

But luckily, the bitter is always followed by the sweet. Maybe you meet a new friend, or start a family tradition to combat the bitter road ahead. You get a hug from someone unexpected. You see a rainbow, hear a favorite song you'd forgotten about. There are so many opportunities to find and create our own sugar. 

Ultimately, it takes a little bit of it all to create the full amazing experience that we call life. Sometimes life gives us lemons and sometimes we find the ability to make lemonade in the most unexpected places.