It’s summertime, and North End living is easy

June can be a busy month. For families with schoolchildren who are in sports, it can be a blur.  

Then there are the field trips, piano recitals, year-end music concerts, and signing up for summer camps and swimming lessons. If that’s not enough, yards need tending and gardens need planting.

So when July comes around and school finally ends, along with the other activities, most families probably just want to kick back and do nothing — or as little as possible. That can be wonderful for a time. Our bodies and minds benefit from being less scheduled.  

However, sometimes a change in activities can be as good as a rest. You can enrich your summer living, right here in the North End, without breaking the bank.

If you envision yourself sitting outside with a magazine or a good book, stop by the St. John’s Library and pick one up. They have a friendly, helpful staff and a wide array of materials. Their summer hours are 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.  You can also find cookbooks craft ideas, joke books, music CDs and movies.

If you’d like to learn something new, enjoy community, and be moderately active while enjoying fresh air, then you have to try lawn bowling. The St. John’s Lawn Bowling Club (St. John’s Park) is open to all. Come as a family or come on your own. They will teach you what you need to know and the next time you visit, you’ll be able to play a real game of it. Memberships are reasonable if you get hooked but the first few visits are free. The beauty of the sport is that anyone from young to old can participate — creating an intergenerational community of people having fun and enjoying friendly competition. Lawn bowling takes place Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursday mornings from 9 until 11 a.m.

If food is your thing and you don’t mind the cost of eating out, the North End offers a number of delicious summer options. 

There’s Luda’s Deli at Aberdeen Avenue and Salter Street, offering breakfast and lunch until 1:30 p.m. (except Saturday and Sunday). There’s the White Spot Drive-In on Salter and the North-Star Drive-In on McGregor Street, as well as George’s Burgers and Subs on Selkirk Avenue and Superboys on Main. And of course, the restaurant at Neechi Commons offers a wonderful menu.

For fresh-out-of-the-garden produce and other local products, be sure to visit the North End Food Security Network's Farmers' Market, which will run every Friday, starting July 7, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Selkirk Avenue Market.

Summer is a time for rest, a change of pace, getting out of the house and getting active. All things that can be done right here in the North End. 

 Sonya Braun is a community correspondent for the North End. You can contact her at sonyajoy@gmail.com