Summer

Simsbury, CT 07/02/16 645PM
#nofilter

Summer.

What a magical word! As a child, summer meant a reprieve from the drudgery of the school year. It meant bike rides down to the park or over to Smitty's for a slice of pizza. It meant days spent in the pool. As I got a little older, summer meant Mexico, Lake Powell, my first serious crush and my first kiss (not necessarily in that order). On the down side, it meant Scout Camp but only once, because let's face it, even thirty eight years ago the BSA and I had a pretty deep antipathy which remains delightfully unresolved to this day. It also meant my first real job (retail chump on Scottsdale's kitschy 5th Avenue - trust me, you'll never get the AZ 5th Avenue confused with 5th Avenue in New York. Never!).

Then the summer of 1984 brought my first trip to Europe and my first semester of university. It was one of the best summer's of my life. Those were truly carefree days. When your biggest concerns were how much plaid could you get away before you got kicked out of the Testing Center and would your mousse canister (because 80's hair) run out before the end of the night, it's a safe assumption that your life was pretty carefree. And it was.

Fast forward a few, who am I kidding, a lot of years. Three children later and now two grandchildren and somehow summer still evokes magic for me. Whether it's true or not, the pace of work seems just a little less frenetic. The stunningly patient and mighty fine SML are able to do a little bit more as we please. Walks along the river in our neighborhood or walks along a cliff in Newport, RI's swankier neighborhoods? You bet. Open mic night at our local deli / pizza joint. Check check. Taking in some amazing blue skies in advance of a symphony's outdoor performance followed by fireworks with some really good friends? Why yes. That was Saturday night's activity.

Of course, now that I'm singing the praises of summer, Mother Nature being the she-hag that she is in these parts, will no doubt turn on us and things will get wicked hot and muggy here pronto. That's how she rolls. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy summer like it's 1984 all over again. In the immortal words of Ric Ocasek of The Cars from their 1984 hit, "Magic":

Summer, it turns me upside down

Summer, summer, summer

It's like a merry go round

I'd say that's a merry go round ride worth taking. For your retro pleasure, here's "Magic" -