It's been a tough year for many. The economy is in the crapper and gas prices are soaring. As we prepare to bid farewell (!!!!) to our President we can only hope that the next one can fix this fine mess. May he (or even possibly she) get America back on her feet again. May our troops come home safe and sound. May we all be able to look ahead to our future with some hope that good times are ahead of us. We have no idea what the future will hold for us and our country but as Summertime welcomes us with her open arms let's remember those Heroes who have paid a dear price for our freedom. Let's have a celebration in their honor!
It's time to clean off the lawn chairs and deck furniture, bring out the hammocks, open our pools up and look forward to some nice relaxation in the summer sun. It's time to make lemonade and iced tea and sip it slowly beneath the warm sun, perhaps while reading the morning newspaper on a hammock in the cool shade of a tall Oak tree.
What does summer mean to you? To me it is about long lazy days and swimming in lakes, pools and oceans. Letting the kids play outside until late at night as the sun sets past their bedtimes. We remember those endless days that seem to blurr together. We remember them fondly. Running in the rain without rain gear. Splashing in the puddles. Chasing fireflies. Campfires and s'mores. These are what summer is all about. Summer is about living and laughing and being carefree. Summer is about creating memories that will last a lifetime. While I wonder what I will do with my children this summer -- which sports activities to enroll them in, which camps to sign up for and how, in general to keep them entertained and off my back I have decided that this summer I will do as little as possible. There will be no structured activities.
We have our annual summer trips to Newport, Rhode Island and Maine. The kids will have their brief stints in ice skating camp and soccer camp. My children will not be watching television all day and they will not be bored. They will not have time to be. We will have friends over here and we will go to friends houses. We will go to the lake, the sprinkler park and the beach where we will spend lazy hours in the sun and run around and get wet and build sandcastles and try to lick the ice cream faster than it will melt. We will go to various farms and pick strawberries and raspberries and peaches. We will take the ferry across the Long Island Sound. We will go to baseball games and eat hot dogs and Cracker Jacks. We'll lounge around in our pajamas if we want to. We'll hunt for frogs and salamanders. This summer my children will be children. There will be no school work. This summer we will all have fun.
I wish you and your children the opportunity to run out in the rain in your underwear, to roll in the mud and get dirty and to shower under your garden hose. I wish you and your children a summer filled with laughter and memory-making as well!
Happy Memorial Day to all of you!