Can you believe it's August? I thought that summer would move a lot slower this year with no concerts, big vacations, or other summer events that would typically fill all of my weekends, but alas, the days are slipping away just as fast as ever.
I was just reminiscing about the summer vacations of my childhood. Every summer, my parents, grandmother, brother and I would pack up the car and camper trailer and head to Lake Winnipesaukee in NH, where by day we swam in the lake, went down the water slides over and over, played mini golf, and ducked into the arcades on the boardwalk for a few games to cool off. I spent the evenings playing cards (mostly rummy) with my grandmother.
As I got older, I wanted more from a vacation - I wanted to go to new places and experience new things. The quote I posted for my high school yearbook profile sums up my attitude at the time - "variety is the spice of life."
I still have an adventurous spirit and love to travel to far off places, but with all of the time at home during this pandemic, I have a better appreciation of the simplicity of those weeks at the lake.
To this day, I love a good game of rummy, round of mini golf, speeding down a water slide, floating around or spending a couple of hours kayaking or paddling in any body of water. All of those things bring me peace and joy. They bring me back to those childhood days, when I wished summer could last forever.
The world feels complicated right now, but when it starts to feel like too much, taking a moment to pause and remember those dog days of summer reminds me that everything will be alright.
My grandmother is no longer with us, my parents have upgraded to a motorhome but don't feel comfortable going anywhere right now, I live in Colorado (2,000 miles from my home town), but my brother just spent a week at Lake Winnipesaukee. So for now I'll live vicariously through his photos on Facebook. And maybe, just maybe, I'll convince John to play a game of rummy with me tonight. Thanks to my gram's mad skills, it's the one game I usually win. ;0)
I'd love to hear from you. Comment to share your favorite childhood memory.