Where Did Summer Go?

Yeah, I know. Us adults don’t get a summer, the same way the little ones do. We have to work through those July and August heat waves to earn the dough to make the summer days magical for the little ones. True, I did take the summer of 2015 off, but that was due to a layoff, and that was far from magical, unless you count my ability to function despite sleepless nights worrying about bills.

But I generally have fun summers with the girls. This one, though, seems a little shortchanged. Maybe because I had the bronchitis for a month and was not much fun. Maybe because the wife is contemplating uprooting us and moving across country, which was not much fun. I dunno. But there were indeed pockets of fun, so perhaps I should focus on that.

Okay!

You just read about the week in Hilton Head. That was the highlight. I had a blast, and thought about it all week long as I labored in the payroll mines here at work. We visited my parents a couple of weekends out in rural PA, and that’s always a relaxing time. The fourth of July fireworks extravaganza, put on by the next town over, where we’re dazzled by exploding fireballs a hundred feet over our heads laying in a football stadium, that was memorable.

Read some intriguing stuff: PKD’s demented philosophy, a bunch of books on Napoleon, a re-read of The Iliad, a World War II yarn (yes, I just used the word “yarn” to describe a story, I am now officially old), a book on paper economics, a book on Chinese communist economics, and some books from the Bible, along with one from Mormon. Books books books. Oh, and the 220 books I donated to the library, my local parish, and my nephew. Paradoxically, I got a good feeling out of giving them away.

Didn’t really watch anything good all summer. As a favor to my buddy I saw Deadpool 2, which I hated. Watched a couple of the Kevin Costner Yellowstone episodes, which I grew to hate. About the only TV I don’t hate is Impractical Jokers, which still has the ability to bring tears to my eyes from laughing so hard. I watched a lot of them this summer.

Saw two baseball games – the Mets back in early May and the Yanks Memorial Day weekend. Both lost. But then the most unpredictable thing happened. Little One, age thirteen, suddenly developed intense Yankee fever. She loves them all (except Greg Bird and Neil Walker, though Neil is growing on her), tracks their stats daily, follows their Instagram and twitter accounts, and watches every game she can, staying up way past her bedtime, despite her mother’s threats and punishments. She stayed up to 1:30 am watching an extra innings game, allowing me to fall asleep on the couch. She’s even doing box scores for each game for the past month or so. I love the passion she has for it.

Patch, age nine, is starting up soccer. She had a week long training clinic where they worked them to the bone. She also shot up a couple inches in an incredible growth spurt. She’s now almost as tall as her big sister. She’s an avid reader, but she’s her own reader, shelving the books I’ve given her to read (Watership Down, Robert Jordan books, Silverberg’s Conquerors from the Darkness) after politely reading the first chapter. And her artwork is getting better by the day.

The girls had a magical summer. Two separate weeks in the woods of Pennsylvania. A week in sunny Hilton Head. Three weeks with cool sitter Victoria, who drove them to the pool, the lake, the beach, the mall. Three baseball games (the wife took them to a second Yankee game while I was sick). A week in Dallas with their aunt and uncle. Sundays at the Jersey shore with mom. First summer with a puppy (though he’s now a muscular, thirty-pound puppy). Bible camp for a week. Art/music camp for four weeks. Little One volunteering at both, in addition to two weeks at the local library. A pair of fairs. Trips to the park, to Blimpie’s, Subway, and the trio of Pizzerias in my town. The Mets-Yankees showdowns.

Man, do we spoil them!

So, goodbye August! Goodbye, summer 2018! Here’s looking to an amazing Fall. Bring on the birthdays and the holidays!