Marcel Winatschek

Summer’s Back

The light’s hanging around longer. That’s the first thing you notice—the evenings stretch, the sky turns this specific shade of blue, and suddenly you’re not checking the weather before you leave the house anymore. Winter’s finished. People are back outside doing nothing in particular, and it’s the best part of the year for that reason.

I’m after the summer of ’99, when heat meant freedom—shirtless soccer until dark, moving without thinking, that kind of rush. 2003 was different, just relentless heat, brutal, but there was something right about it too. And those rains in the middle of summer, hot and sudden, washing everything down in five minutes.

None of that’s coming back. I’ll get normal summer: mild June, decent July, August throwing surprises. That’s fine, probably. But I’m asking for the good stuff anyway.