Last one to do the Summer meme

Because everybody else has done it, and sometimes I'm a joiner.

1.) What first tells you that Summer is here?
The daily "How much longer can we avoid turning on the air conditioning?" suspense.

2.) Name five of your favorite distinctively Summer habits or customs.
- Making homemade ice cream (I think we're going to have to replace our ice cream freezer... it's 8 years old and the thing that holds the motor onto the tub broke off...)
- Getting a whole lot of my hair whacked off (did that yesterday, and good thing, too -- just in time to avoid getting it all tangled in the wind at an outdoor concert last night).
- Having a few weeks of a lighter Wednesday music rehearsal schedule
- We usually make one trip to Six Flags at some point, hitting all the biggest and best rides as many times as we can put up with standing in line.
- "Batching it" for a week while The Alpha chaperones the youth mission trip.

3.) What is your favorite smell of Summer?
Honeysuckle.

4.) What is your favorite taste of Summer?
A perfectly ripe slice of watermelon.

5.) Favorite Summer memory?
Freezing my tail off in August on a day cruise to Northwest Glacier... spotting the wildlife... hardly believing we were seeing such grandeur.

6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why?
I guess by default of living in the South I've chosen extreme heat. But I don't really like it. However, I don't think I'd really like extreme cold, either. I'm a wimp.

7.) What books do you plan to read for the season?
I just started The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Intriguing, thus far.

8.) How does the Summer affect your faith? Is it a hindrance or an ally?
Summer creates some open space -- no big holiday preparation pressures, for example -- so I think it's probably an ally, though I've never pondered this question before.

I don't think there's anyone left to tag for this one! But if you haven't done it yet, be my guest.