With the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District trustees effectively punting into the indefinite future any vote on a contract with Nestle Waters subsidiary Poland Spring and abutters seeking accommodation instead of acrimony over elements of the “Olde Port Village” condominium project in Kennebunkport, it seems possible that citizens and snowbirds alike can concentrate on what may be the most important industry in this slice of southern Maine: enjoying the summer.

As cities farther south swelter, those with means do what they have done for generations: escape to somewhere a bit more pleasant. Aside for the traffic tie ups and occasional – and (admit it) necessary – wet weather, few places are any more pleasant than right here, right now.

We are free to pontificate on presidential politics as if it were a parlor game, knowing full-well that as the weather grows crisp, the gloves will really come off.

With weeds and cobwebs covering the oil tank, worries about how well we’ll survive the winter evaporate under the sizzling sun.

Gas prices are bad and will likely grow worse with each hurricane that churns through the Gulf of Mexico or hailstorm of provocations in the Middle East, but, for now, we can always bike to the beach or barbecue in the backyard.

There are worries in this world for sure and none of that takes a vacation, but that doesn’t mean we can’t. Indeed we must.

Right here, right now the afternoons are endless and the evening full of the sounds of children and cicadas.

The ice is melting in Greenland, but it’s already gone in your glass. There’s one problem with a solution.

If we let them, the worries will never end, but no matter what we do, the summer will.

–Ward Peck, editor