As silly tunes about halibut and seahorses danced through my ears at the Calera production of &8220;The Little Mermaid&8221; Saturday, a local parent chased after his little boy who had only last week begun to walk.

The Saturday before, I spent part of the day strolling through Mt Laurel&8217;s Farmer&8217;s Market with my husband and sister, with scents of fresh flowers tickling my nose and fresh vegetables tempting my tastebuds.

It&8217;s most definitely summertime in Shelby County.

While I long for a good trip to the beach to visit my in-laws, I find myself relishing the community events we have right here for entertainment.

When my husband and I first got married, we loved the idea of being so close to the culture of Birmingham with all of its arts, restaurants, entertainment and charity events. Now, I&8217;ve come to realize the wealth of those things right here in Shelby County.

It&8217;s nice to not have to travel 20 minutes into Birmingham to peak our imaginations.

In the June 18 edition of the Shelby County Reporter, we only breezed through several selections waiting right at your fingertips. This summer is filled with possibilities to learn and to laugh &045;&045; so many it will take all summer for us to describe them all to you, but we plan to be at as many as we can.

Shelby County is almost vibrating with activity and for those of us crying every time we put gas in our tanks, it might not be such a terrible idea to take part in some of that local synergy.

This weekend, I plan to once again hop around the county. Bees will be buzzing at the Helena Amphitheater as families sit down to watch Bee Movie. Fireworks will blaze in Columbiana at Liberty Day Friday and of course the Heart of Dixie Train will be at Ozan Winery for the Wine Train on Saturday. Sometimes the grass is greener right where you are.

At the very least you can say you are doing your part to boost the local economy and I&8217;m pretty sure that would make a lot of businesses happy.

Come out and enjoy all that our area has to offer &8212; you won&8217;t be disappointed.