Summer is a fleeting, mixed bag of sun-drenched fun and emotionally fraught experiences (read: family vacations). Whether you’ve decided to spend Summer 2013 gorging on over-processed delicacies at a state fair, sweating and sun-bathing on the sandy shores of a beach or watching your kids chase each other around the sprinkler to the noxious yet comforting scent of sun-screen and bug spray, it’s clear as summer begins to wind down that Six-Word Memoirs aren’t solely for the school year.

Among the six word sun-themed submissions that poured in during the summer months are memoirs that seared, sizzled and shined. Read on to see our favorite–often humorous–soliloquies of a summer very nearly gone by and find out how your fellow memoirists beat the heat (or not) this year. Click the link next to an author’s name to see more of his or her memoirs and feel free to share what your summer in six words looked like!

I’m hot, but only meteorologically speaking.
–NumbrOneAunt

Some (do not) like it hot.
–notjustagirlintheworld

Banging radiator, summer’s on vacation again.
–RaisedByWolves

Overly prepared cheapskate: Summer. Purchases parka.
–Contemplative

Beach Bummers: red flags, jellyfish, lightening.
–whelp

Too well insulated for this heat.
–Undermom

Summer attire; grease, sweat and paint.
–DynamicDbytheC

Sunburn. Heartburn. Repercussions of summer overindulgence.
–notyouraveragegirl

Sunscreen is my new signature scent.
–accidentaltourist

Braless in summer. Ah, sagaliciously heaven.
–canadafreeze

Beachside resident living an internet existence.
–guru_sag

Scorching heat, people tweet, extremes meet.
–MakotoSakashima

Humidity and my hair are dueling.
–Litsa_Dremousis

Fleeing summer buried under school supplies.
–lillybrook

August: Summer’s last slice of watermelon.
–Loon

Freezing summer in strawberry jam jars.
–Mourningdove