Summertime and the Livin's Easy

Back in high school I was a super-nerd, superstar and was part of something called Academic Decathlon. Essentially, it was an exam-based competition on 10 different subjects. Some (like essay) were always the same. Others (like music and history) focused on a different specific genre or period each year. The year I competed, the music category was Opera. In addition to engendering a love of (or at least a tolerance for) opera, it exposed me to several classic pieces. One of these is George Gershwin's Summertime. The first line is a very soulful "Suuuuuuuuumer-tiiiiiiiiiime and the livvvvvvvvvinnnn's eaaaaaasssssssssy". (You can see all of the lyrics here.) It's a beautiful piece. These cards are all stamped with the message "Always maintain a kind of summer even in the middle of winter. -Henry David Thoreau", which reminded me of how the soulful, almost sorrowful tone of the Gershwin song contrasted with it's subject and it's purpose (to be a lullaby). And thus they were named! ^_^