Enjoy Small Towns in the Summer Time

With Summer nearing I began to think of activities to do during this time of year. In the May Texas Monthly magazine they had a section on 13 great getaways in Texas. The focused in on El Paso, Palo Duran Canyon, Dallas and other areas some out of state places near Texas as well. Then in the May issue of San Antonio Magazine they listed 101 fun things to do in Summer in the San Antonio area. From eating, sports, music and museums they showcase ideas for everyone’s taste whether family or individual. There were plenty of ideas just from those two magazines.

Then a few days ago I was talking, (Yes some people still talk on the phone-- I prefer real verbalizing over texting), with an old childhood friend from Ohio and he mentioned for Summer time travels he was going to take his mother around to a few of the small towns in Ohio. Growing up in Ohio his thought reminded me of the many wonderful small towns in Ohio such as Sugarcreek and Coshocton. Texas is a much larger state and it is full of quaint small towns as well so I decided that will be one item on our Summer Dream list to visit a few small towns in Texas this year.

So if you are looking for things to do this Summer check out any state magazines that will give you ideas. As well most urban cities in each state often have a related magazine that lists what to do and see in the metro area as I mentioned in my local bookstore and grocery stores they carry the Texas Monthly and the San Antonio Magazine. Also websites for cities will show activities you can take advantage of in the metro areas. There is no reason to say there is nothing to do as if you search you can find a multitude of things to do. Like I mentioned at the beginning, 101 fun things to do in the San Antonio region from their magazine.

Don’t rule out exploring small towns in your state or a nearby state for a short weekend trip. Often within a state you can turn it into a one day visit if staying overnight in not in your budget. Even staying overnight for a weekend visit is a cost saver over a lengthy long distance vacation. Small towns have a different feel than visiting an urban area. The pace of strolling through a small town is more relaxed. You can enjoy their parks and scenery as a break from the area where you live. To choose a town simply do a search on the internet for visiting small towns in your state. You will see a variety of websites pop up. Look around for the website that gives you the towns and helpful information about the towns. Here are a couple of examples of websites I found for Texas and Ohio:

http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Texas_towns_A_to_Z.htm

This website gives an alphabetical list of towns in Texas with links to more information on the towns.

http://www.ohiotraveler.com/great-ohio-towns.htm

This website gives a varied list of towns in Ohio and at the bottom of the page you can search by region of Ohio.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/il

I lived a number of years in Chicago so I thought I would include a link to sights in Illinois. This website of Roadside America has a search engine so you can search for your state as well.

If you have never traveled through small town America within your state do a little searching on the web or state travel magazines. This may provide a new refreshing angle on how you spend your weekends in the Summer or do a longer within state vacation going from small town to small town.

Enjoy Your Summer!

Reflection: Explore a website on small towns in your state. Read over information on a variety of the towns and pick a few that you would like to visit.

Summer Reading Lists

Summer time is often a time for Bookheads like myself to take more time to read. Even people who are not Bookheads tend to read more in the Summer. One help in encouraging reading in the Summer are Summer booklists. I was reminded of this as I was reading the August edition of one of my favorite magazines, Success . It is a magazine geared to principles to help people be successful in life and business. They had a reading list of what a selection of business leaders, actresses, actors, and musicians were reading.

As I looked through the list I saw books I have read in the past. The article also gave me ideas of new books I want to read in the future. I then went to Google’s search engine and searched for Summer reading Lists and there was a variety of lists from Oprah, suggested children book lists, Universities and bookstores reading lists as well. Viewing such book lists gives ideas for books to look for at the library, or books you may wish to purchase for your Summer reading.

Here is the list of books I have started reading for this Summer. Some I have completed and others I am still working on:

• Flourish by Martin Seligman – Dr. Seligman discusses key principles of Positive Psychology and how the discipline aids in people having a flourishing life.
• Your Creative Brain by Shelley Carson – Dr. Shelley Carson provides the reader with concepts from her research in improving levels of personal creativity.
• Drive by Daniel Pink – Another great book by Daniel Pink, this one focuses on developing our internal motivation skills.
• Distance Counseling by Editors James Malone, Randy Miller, & Gary Waltz -- As a Counselor, I found this book eye opening as to the expanding effectiveness os Counseling of individuals by using the internet communication process.
• Eccentrics by David Weeks & Jamie James – A psychological study on Eccentric individuals throughout history. Gives insights on key elements in the eccentric personality.
• A Praying Life by Paul Miller – This book is a practical and honest look at the subject of prayer. Through personal examples of the author he shows the struggle with prayer and the importance of prayer.
• Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias -- Ravi Zacharias edits a series of Apologetic articles on helping Christians have a firmer understanding of why they believe what they believe in a post modern age.
• Creating Minds by Howard Gardner – This book is a psychological study of creativity looking at the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham and Gandhi.

As you finish up the Summer you may want to go to your local library and pick out a book of your favorite genre to read. If you are needing new ideas for books click on the word GOOGLE here and it will take you to a list of booklists to peruse.

Reflection: Think about the books you have read this Summer. Reflect over what you like the most about the books. Check out a couple book reading lists and find a new book to read.