SUMMER: ABUNDANCE OVER SCARCITY

We in the Northern Hemisphere have officially entered summer with the summer solstice on June 21. As we welcome summer, my body remembers the dry heat, flip-flops (which I wear all throughout the year), and a few hot sleepless nights as I spent most summers in Southern California. One thing I do not miss is the humid sticky summer in Korea or any other place where stickiness and irritability rule the day. Hot I can handle as long as it is dry, but humidity is a beast I have yet to conquer. One of our family traditions for many years over summer was to spend a weeklong vacation in a scorching hot dry desert in Palm Springs, California. The punishing heat was ideal for play in the pool and for a natural outdoor dry sauna (which was my fav), especially if you crawl and hole yourself in air-conditioned hotels or time-share condos. So, we would go from the pool to the room to a 2-dollar movie theater and repeat. We smelled like whatever brand sun block lotion we put on throughout the entire week. The temperatures fluctuated from balmy 110s to occasional sizzling 120s. 

I took my family to Palm Springs one summer when our children were all less than 10 years old almost as an experiment. I thought we would try Palm Springs and see. We had hit the beaches up and down the So. Cal coastline, explored the city vibes like San Francisco, San Diego, and of course, Los Angeles, hiked the mountains, took countless road trips to national parks, and braved the amusement parks. As much as we enjoyed all of the above, we discovered that we all loved the hot summer desert experience. Perhaps it was the desert mirage that got us hypnotized and we just did not know it. So, we kept going back and every time we went back, we took a few other innocent victims (I mean other families) along with us. In a few years, our humble tradition grew to more than 60 people from our community in Pasadena. It became a communal tradition every single summer. 

Parker Palmer’s insight on summer is worth pondering and well noted. “Summer’s keynote is the victory of abundance over scarcity, and nature shows us how that victory can be achieved.” I remember the abundance of relationships, fellowships, food, and simple sweet times during our annual Palm Springs “feast.” I was a happy uncle to some 30 kids from ages 2 to 18. I was a safe father/“lifeguard on duty” to teach kids how to play safely in the water, even though I did not know how to swim. I was an innocent kid at heart playing with other kids who would play catch, torpedoes, and Marco Polo in the pool. And then there were the generous potluck dinners every night in one designated condo unit where we would bring all our BBQ, main dishes, salads, fruits, desserts, and drinks. The room was filled with the aroma of the potluck dishes blended with the smells of various sun block lotions and aloe vera lotions. We would showcase our daily tan progress to one another. Invariably, we would have one or two who got burned in our midst. Every dinner was a party. 

While the desert summer seems to perpetuate scarcity, regions that experience all four seasons can surely appreciate going from scarcity to abundance in nature. Unfortunately, I live in Southern California where the weather is pretty constant, mild, and simply blah for some people. This is one reason why others choose to live in So. Cal. including yours truly. If it is not 75 degrees outside and sunny, it is either too cool, too warm, and not perfect. At the same time, I do miss the four distinct seasons as I remember my growing years in Korea. 

Parker’s insight deepens. “Here is a summertime truth: abundance is a communal act, the joint creation of an incredibly complex ecology in which each part functions on behalf of the whole and, in return, is sustained by the whole. Community not only creates abundance—community IS abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed.” While the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the whole sustains each part to function and flourish. Palm Springs reminds me of the wonder and experience of the abundance of family and community. I can go as far as to say that community WAS abundance for all who participated in the almost lunatic behavior of embracing the sizzling temperatures in Palm Springs. The last line of Parker is a gentle charge and challenge for all who desire to experience and witness the transformation of humanity.