As summer winds to an end I am struck at what summer has turned into as an adult...
let me go back.. walk with me down memory lane..
Remember what summer was as a kid?
Staying out till it got dark?
Swimming every night (or it sure felt like every night) up at the lake.
Macaroni salad
The smell of a new pool float-spending an hour blowing it up only to realize its more fun without.......
Sand everywhere
Sleep overs
Camp fires
Riding in the back of the truck (it was the 80s)
Road trips
Camping treats
S'mores
Fireworks
Fire flies- never ever caught one but swear I came close
Sun burns
Sun screen ( I don't remember ever putting it on, I'm sure it was one of those chores we had to do prior to getting to swim so it's blocked out as not important memories)
Riding our bikes
Begging for a popsicle from the ice cream man- ice cream treats from the freezer were NOT the same
Tenting in the backyard
Not to mention gearing up for school!
New school supplies, the smell of new pencils, crayons and new pencil bag
New school shoes!
The back to school outfit
Getting excited to find out which teacher you have, who is in your class, where you get to sit in class!
All of these are amazing memories, all of which I treasure.
As I get older it has been a subtle switch to what summer is like as an adult...
I don't have children of my own but I still feel the need to buy a folder or two and new pens when the flyers come out starting mid July I love to look at what school supplies are there to "help make it fun".
Don't get me wrong I have been back to school several times as an adult and the thrill is still there... I love me a good fine point pen, new notebooks, and index cards... I swear I have hundreds of index cards... not sure what I was thinking I would need them for but hey if you need lined, coloured, blank, lined with blank on the back, small, extra large or index cards coil ring notebook? I'm your girl, I can hook a student up.
I guess we all learn in our own ways.. I learn by tricking myself into thinking all the accoutrements of learning actually make it impossible to fail! Kinda like when my sister and I would play barbies growing up, we would spend the day setting things up, splitting up the clothes, shoes, accessories, houses, cars ken dolls (my sister always got the one who still could turn his head...i got "no neck Ken" the one we had to jam his head so far down his neck or it would keep popping off..) the day would be taken up with the set up we wouldn't actually play at all.... don't get me started on doing their hair. .. hours and several failed attempts at bangs later we were ready to play... only to find it was time to clean up.
I fear I am off on a tangent...what? No... so unlike me really...
Back to summer as an adult...
I found I had to work at remembering the joy of summer this year-reading that makes me a little bit sad. This year I had holidays at the beginning May, leaving the whole summer to stretch in front of me with no holiday days to be had. Please don't feel too badly for me, I work 12 hour shifts allowing me to have 4-5 days off in between my work sets. So I had several days off, just none that were devoted to strictly summer shenanigans!
It is easy to get into the rut of work/not work routine when you have days off, laundry, dishes, mopping, bathrooms, vacuuming.....then meal prepping groceries and back to work again for another set of shifts!
I was reminded of the simple things of summer when I was looking after my nieces and nephew...
Making s'mores by candle light in the backyard cause it was so tinder dry no campfires for us!
Going on picnics to the park them playing until we got sweaty and hitting up Wendy's for a 99 cent frosty teat.
Sitting with our feet in the wading pool while the sprinkler was on barely hitting us with a sprinkling of icy water enough to cool us off in between passes
Picking blackberries warmed by the sun, getting all scratched up in the process of relieving the prickles plants of their plump berries
Living outside coming in at the end of the day smelling of sunscreen and not knowing it it was tan or dirt until yoUIKEYINPUTDOWNARROWu showered off before bed..... most times it was dirt, but worth every minute spent in the sunshine!
So I guess what this long winded trip down memory lane is is getting to is as summer winds to a close I hope we are reminded to enjoy the days left as through the eyes of a child, get excited for the new pen, folder, or tape dispenser you pick up this fall, enjoy the evenings in the backyard, the days are still warm and the evenings still enjoyable, and look forward to the turning of the leaves, and all the promise Fall may bring.
New Jobs, New homes, new year in school, new experiences, new chapters in life. If change is not on the horizon let me encourage you, as I remind myself, that sometimes you just need a new outlook on the every day. So as the sweet sweaty summer comes to a close (but please not yet) and the leaves turn the beautiful colours only fall brings, live life as vibrantly as the summer sunsets, with the fire of the changing leaves and remember the feeling of the sunshine on your face and victory in your heart as you eat the drippy popsicle from the ice cream man!
Every day can be just that good!
