Summer Hard

Poolside Spritz, Marcus Lloyd

I intended to write a piece on day drinking in Los Angeles for y'all. Because I am a committed writer, I went day drinking. Then, I found myself unable to write more than this.

This is probably a better essay anyway.

It was supposed to kick off Summer Hard, my eight-week guide to summer in Los Angeles. Day drinking, bonfires and dive bars. Who knows what else we'll find together? Life is organic, sometimes you gotta let the good stuff find you. That's the whole point of summer in LA, you may start at the beach but end up in somebody's driveway at 11 pm eating carne asada.

As I grow older, I am beginning to admit that I only have so much bandwidth available for hard things, including writing. A friend of mine, an avid reader of this column, recently suggested I write something longer. So I've committed to doing that this summer, which means something's got to give.

The sacrifice is fewer deep dives, more about lying in the sun, or at least eating and drinking in it. For now. Think of it as an Aperol Spritz at your favorite hotel pool.

Between now and next week, we'll experience the summer solstice. The longest day of the year. The solstice is the paradox that can give us that summertime sadness. We kick off the season with the beginning of its end. Every day after Sunday gets a little shorter, and our good and late light starts to leave us before we've even made our plans.

We need to remember that and go hard.

Summer Hard begins June 25. See you here.

xAP