Summer Time
Summer officially started on June 21st, just a few days ago. Curiously (I mean ironically :p), I think the weather shifted from warm-to-hot right on queue. Since about Saturday (OK, it was a day early), the weather has gone from warm-and-wet to hot, muggy, and buggy. And I don’t mind it.
Not that I love the 90-plus degree weather we’re experiencing right now, or the swarm of bugs smeared against my car’s front window, or the frizzy hair, but there’s something about summer that I really appreciate. Maybe (probably?) it’s that it reminds me of freedom and friends.
For most kids growing up, summer is when you’re allowed to stay out a little longer, hang out with your friends more, and don’t have to worry about any of the responsibilities of school. And growing up, NJ’s summers were always distinctly buggy, hot, and muggy. When those three things went away, you were back in school.
I love thinking back on summers in NJ. Pool parties and days spent at the beach. Playing games with my friends. Watching TV all day. Long walks with Devin. Great times. (Although… full disclosure here: I usually whined and bitched a lot *during* the summer because I’d feel so lethargic from the heat; but hey, things change.)
Even when I was going to school in Tennessee, it often felt more like fun than work — so I think I retained that connection of warm weather with freedom and friends. You’d think that association would clearly be broken in Edmonton, where I toiled in the coal mines year ’round, but no. My memories of the all-too-short summers are of anything but work. They are filled with flag football and trips to the Fringe Festival and the Heritage Days Festival and, occasionally, stumbling home drunk late at night from Whyte Ave.
It’s been the same positive experience in Indiana. No jackets. A real appreciation for air conditioning. More things to do, like tons of concerts (we have a few upcoming with Brendan Benson, the Warlocks, The Dead Weather, and the Dandy Warhols). I love the perks that summer offers. And while I’m not usually one to talk about the weather, you’ll have to pardon my indulgence this once.
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I don’t know what the hell happened to me, or when it happened. I used to live for summer. I’d be outside all day every day, whether it was just playing in the yard, riding my bike around the neighborhood, or hanging out at the pool until it closed. I’d get so tan I could’ve passed for a mulatto (It’s a mulatto!!!). All I was missing was the ETHNIC HAIR.
Now I get sweaty and grumpy just walking from the house to the car. Ugh.
My appreciation for summer and the pleasant associations are pretty much non-existent now. I hate it. HATE IT. :down:
Well, except for the part about more concerts. As long as we can have the AC cranked on the way to the shows
1Ah, a post I can read, love, and relate to. Thanks.
2It is 75, breezy, not humid, and pretty bug free out here in sunny California…
You kids need to move out here and write screenplays on the beach.
Just look at the movies in theaters now… a sixth grader could write better.
Bobisimo Productions, Malibu, California… :up:
3I’m trying to picture a tanned Candice. Can’t do it. Then again, you probably can’t imagine a tanned me — and I’ve been there, too.
Gub, yer welcome!
Feel free to post requests for the future. :p
Tsul, that does sound nice. I would love to have no bugs anywhere! I think Candice would really appreciate that, too — especially the constant temperature. Get me a job that pays well enough to get an apartment and some groceries and I’m there.
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