Is there any greater joy than summer? It's been 90 degrees (F) here in the Pacific Northwest off an on for over a week. I just got back from an extended trip to Northern California, where it was nowhere near this warm. The hot weather here is rare indeed.
I revel in this. I hear kids outside playing basketball in the street - shooting hoops until someone's Mom calls them inside for a quick bath and then to bed. My God, how I long for that sometimes. Play from dawn until dark, stopping only to eat and then being dragged inside and forced to sleep, the sun still influencing the western sky. Going to sleep with your heart still pounding and your skin scorched from hours in the summer sun.
I remember the time when Mom didn't worry about where we were on our Schwins for hours at a time. No one thought about child molesters or serial killers. We were kids and we had our childhood assured. Our bikes were chariots and we were invincible as long as the sun held out.
If we only knew how our days were numbered. Not that we had to return to school in September, when it was still too warm to wear our new winter clothes. No, the end of summer comes much later...when we go off to jobs all day, no matter what time of year. No more running around half-naked, no more scraping the dirt off our toes and crawling into bed only to look forward to another day of play ahead, no more letting someone else worry about reality, bills, and meals.
Tomorrow I will get up early and think about the responsibilities of managing a small business. I'll look out my office window and wonder if the kids will be tossing water baloons or plunging down a "slip-n-slide".
Maturity sucks ass, big-time.