Somerville with Townie Tim: Summertime

As the great poets of the band Sublime once said, “Summertime and the livin’s easy.” If you think otherwise, just ask all the people "in the dance"; they will gladly acknowledge that Sublime is "qualified to represent the [Long Beach Community] LBC." Hopefully, after a semester of reading this column, you will admit that your man Townie Tim is well qualified to talk about the SSC, or the Somer Side Community, which is something I am desperately trying to establish as a thing. The point is, "Doin’ Time" slaps.

Before I ride off into the sunset, let’s talk about summer. I know it was just reading period and you spent about 20% of your time studying, with the rest devoted to rewatching The Office. I’ve been there, and all I can say is that I relate. Even though everyone in the group finished their part of the project, you still needed to spend about 15 more hours together making sure all the graphs are labeled. Don't forget that six of those hours were spent trying to figure out where to get food that late at night.

After all the papers, projects and finals are done and students return to equal parts New York and California, Somerville — not to mention Boston in general — really clears out and the townies emerge to enjoy three months of the dog days of summer. Don’t get me wrong, having students around during the year is an essential part of our community, and Somerville wouldn’t be the same without Tufts. But it is nice to have the place to ourselves for a while. It’s kind of like that time I went on a cruise and was the last one off the boat. I realized there was this tight-knit community of staff that existed amongst the general population. Once everyone was off the boat they stretched out and relaxed.

Over the summer, we don’t have to wait in line for breakfast. Powder House Square is significantly safer, people remember my name at restaurants, the T is less crowded and everything in Davis Square just seems a little slower. Also, it is a whole lot easier to distinguish the tourists on the Freedom Trail because all the lost Suffolk students are home for the summer. For the next three months, we get to relax in our non-air-conditioned apartments and think about how much more humid it is in other parts of the country.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and summer will give Somerville just enough time to start missing the student population. At the end of the day, we need you, Jumbos, because without you, we would be just like non-college-having fools in Malden, Arlington or Everett. I shudder at the thought.

So, take a sec and make that summertime playlist. You should also consider making plans to come back and visit your friends who are staying in Boston. Summer is truly the time to experience this community as a local. As for me, I’ll be out there on the streets collecting stories for another time. This is Townie Tim signing off for now.