What’s the start of summer for you, the signal that it’s here?...

What’s the start of summer for you, the signal that it’s here? Is it the
last day of school? The lilacs or day lilies? First sleep with the
windows open? Smell of cut grass behind the gasoline of the lawnmower?
The fat red tomato sliced thin and salted? A sunburn? Shins sweating?
The first swim? The first hotdog off the grill? Throbbing light from the
fireflies? Campfire smoke in your hair? Is it the first day of June? Is
it the day when light’s longest? When your midday shadow’s shorter than
any other day? When the sun sets and sets and sets?

As we approach the heated season, I’ll be writing a series of essays on the summer solstice for the Paris Review. Here, the first installment, on what’s in the air this time of year.