JOYS OF SUMMER
If we could live in eternal Summer, we really would - we LOVE Summer! As it turns out we’re in pretty good company.
Published 08 January 2025
Photography: Pip Williams
If you've ever been around me at the turning of the season (specifically, early December), you'll know that I adore Summer. You are, in fact, almost guaranteed to hear me, a skip in my voice, spruiking its praises. . . because Summer in Toowoomba is my favourite time of the year.
I know, we’re supposed to say Spring. And while Springtime in Toowoomba is magical, Summertime is something else!
Maybe it’s the nostalgia of childhood, and maybe I just haven't grown out of that, but Summer is a season for friends and family, of late nights laughing around the table playing cards. It’s dodging bindies as we run to the Home Ice Cream truck; it’s that afternoon smell of BBQs that drifts over the neighbourhood and the ubiquitous droning of a whippersnipper somewhere in the distance as someone attacks that long overdue yard work. It’s heavily laden Christmas trees and non-stop carols…although who are we kidding we’ve been hitting the carols for months already.
And whilst all of that comes with a heavy dose of romanticism that conveniently shepherds off any thoughts of 35-degree days, mosquitos and sticky nights where sleep feels impossible - Summer is a time for making memories, and its quirks are what give it its character.
Convinced we arn't the only ones to feel this way, we asked some TFG friends about their favourite Summer memories, and what the 'Season of Sun' means to them.
Summer is . . . those unforgettable beach holidays with family as a child. From the building anticipation on that epic car ride, to the unstructured days going from beach to pool and back to the beach. Summer is now recreating those traditions with my own family.
- Vanessa (Profile Hair Design)
Summer is the hum of cicadas on a warm, early evening walk.
- Katie (Artist)
. . .it's 'making time'. Making time with friends and family, making time for long lunches and dinners on the lawn that drag on late into the evening. It's making time for the things that matter
- Kathy (Farmer)
Summer was us kids running out into the veggie paddocks and having water fights under the irrigators. As an adult, it's eating too much watermelon, water fights in the backyard and the smell of freshly mowed grass.
- Bek (Aeromedical Nurse)
. . .it's the annual beach holiday. Fishing, catching beach worms, beers on the deck and quality time with old friends.
- Katie (Calico Pony)
. . .it's picking the first mango of the season and holding it up to your nose to smell it like you life depends on it, or pricking your finger on the aloe vera as you smear it on your tomoto-coloured skin.
- Bridee (Banter Coffee Kitchen)
. . .it's early and simple bbq and salad dinners, a cold drink with condensation dripping down the sides and the sound crickets in the background.
- Maddie (Hey Marketing)
Summer is all about family, fresh food, and the sea. It’s the joy of love and the freedom of being on a boat. Simple, peaceful, and full of life.
- Ceyda (Loulaki)
(As a kid) Summer meant school was out(!), so endless days of being my own boss! It meant my brother and I riding our bikes down the street full throttle and handball rematches with the neighbours. It meant hundreds of sleepovers that started as one night and turned into three, and every Saturday night watching 'Hey, Hey It's Saturday' with Dad, coke-spider in hand.
(As an adult) long summer days were meant for dreaming; dreaming of Summers to come and wondering what the future held; a season of possabilities!
- Leonie (TTG)
Summer was waterfights with my sister at our grandparent's property with the bore-water hoses, then eating all that leftover Christmas ham in front of the telly.
- Cat Ardi Brennan (The Know)
Have you got an event we should know about? Let us know!
