My husband, Mike, and I undertook a dreaded task recently — cleaning the grill.

I don’t mean that we heated it up and scraped any loose debris from the grates. I mean we cleaned it.

We disassembled everything, used oven cleaner and degreaser on all the parts and really scrubbed everything down. It was a messy, unpleasant job that we did on a day that was a bit too chilly to be using the garden hose, but we did it.

And boy am I glad we did!

There’s just something special about grilling something up for dinner. It’s a practice that not only provides you with a tasty meal, but it gets you out of the house. It just makes you feel like summer has truly arrived.

Since we got the job done, we have been putting the grill to good use. It doesn’t matter what time of night we finish work, if we have a nice fresh cut of meat available, we put it on the grill.

So far, we have grilled up the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs on a couple of occasions. But we have also used the grill to prepare New York strip steaks (from our freezer that is filled with local, grass-fed beef).

One of my favorite meals was grilled lamb chops from Sam’s Club, seasoned with garlic and rosemary.

Sure, all of those meals would be good if prepared on a stove top or under a broiler, but the sense of summertime fun that comes with hanging out on the porch and listening to the meat sizzle over an open flame is somehow more satisfying.

I’m also looking forward to all sorts of other meals that I like to prepare on the grill. From skewers covered in chunks of chicken and veggies to slabs of ribs, you can cook up just about anything your heart desires.

And if you don’t have a grill of your own, you can still enjoy the experience by visiting a public location such as Barkcamp State Park, where charcoal grills are available for anyone to use.

Whatever your personal preference, you can hop in the car with the family, grab a bag of charcoal and have yourselves an afternoon or evening picnic. It’s a great way to enjoy the sights, sounds, smells and — most importantly­ tastes of summer/