Summer-time 'hygge'

The Danish people have this word "hygge". Hygge is defined as "a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)."

A great description of hygge thanks to hyggehouse.com

If you do a search for examples of hygge, you generally get things associated with winter living, like hot cocoa, warm fire, reading/writing, warm blanket, etc. A few web sites mentioned that hygge isn't specifically winter based, so I thought I'd come up with my own "summer hyyge". So I thought I'd share some of the things that make our summers up here my favorite time of the year.

Road trips with Renee!

Spending time with Renee and exploring!

The beautiful summer weather makes getting out on the road for a day trip to explore the countryside is one of our favorite things to do. When the weather warms up and the snow melts, my wife Renee and I love to hit the road. Somedays it might be a quick trip over to neighboring Cheyenne or Fort Collins for a little shopping or a meal at a restaurant that we don't have in town. Other days, it may be a drive up into the Snowy Range mountains for a reminder of the natural beauty that surrounds us. Other times, we might take a few days to travel further from home and stay the night in an area that we haven't been to yet.

If you come from warmer climates, you may be wondering why we only do this in the summer. That is a good question and the answer is the weather. During the winter, a snow storm can move in quickly to Laramie and surrounding areas, and if you are caught out of town, the only roads that lead back into town may be closed for all vehicles. As a result, we tend to stay in town or at home during our winter. This was something we had to adjust to shortly after moving here. What we do at home during those months will have be another blog post, this time about my winter hygge!!

VW driving & wrenching time!

Summers mean VW time for me!

One of my highly anticipated things to do when the temperatures increase leading up to summer is to get some time in the garage. I am looking forward to getting to wrenching on my WyoLook '69 VW Bug and getting her running again! I am really looking forward to driving her again. The last time I drove her was in 2010, when I drove home from work during my summer commute.

Once she's running again, and if there aren't unforeseen problems that need to be addressed, I want to drive her to many of my summer activities. At the top of the list of summer activities are the monthly meets for my local VW club, Thin Air Dub Club, along with driving to work and just cruising around town. Stay tuned for what happens in the garage this summer!

Working out in the sunshine!

For most of the year getting out on the bicycle
is not without being frozen to death.

Once the summer temperatures are here, I will be able to enjoy the great outdoors while riding one of my bicycles. I was hoping to be able to ride my tri-bike, the 1998 Cannondale Multisport 1000, and start to get some miles on her, but as I shared earlier, that bike in in need of a new rear wheel, a 650c wheel in particular. Until I can locate a replacement wheel (or replacement wheelset) for her, my main ride this summer will be the first bike I built up here, my 1993 Cannondale M700 mountain bike. At this moment, the M700 is on my indoor bike trainer, so I know she will appreciate getting out and enjoying the sunshine with me!

This summer, unlike last summer, should be a little bit more relaxed at work, so I hope to hit the swim pool regularly. Of course here in Laramie the lap pools are all indoor, so a my hygge dream goes back to those summer days in California and being able to swim outdoors. You can feel the sun on your body, you need tinted goggles, and the cool water temperatures make those mid-day swims a joy!