Summer's a Time to Relax. Except Hardly Anyone Does

For some people somewhere, summer surely lives up to its promise as a tranquil time. As they lie on a sandbar feeling their stress ebb with the tide, their weightiest thoughts are of sunburn, the need to get limes for the Coronas and how many pounds of lobster to buy for dinner.

For everyone else, summer arrives with an undercurrent of frustration. Every year, it seems life in summer ought to be slower, and every year, it’s not.