It has been a few days without rain here in good old Texas! I got to enjoy the sun a bit more Sunday than I did Saturday, that’s for sure! Driving my daughter back home Sunday night we noticed the lightning bugs were out. Fireflies, lightning bugs, same thing. Anyway, it just made me start thinking about summer things. The activities that make summers memorable for adults and kids and how they differ and what is missed or still enjoyed. There are so many memories of summers I have had the pleasure to enjoy since I was little. Summers spent flying to Texas from California to see my dad. Day trips to Six Flags and what is now known as Hurricane Harbor (back in the day it was Wet’n’Wild!), family reunions in Daytona Beach, FL, or trips to Georgia. The list goes on and on. Swimming in the pool, going to the lake, crawfish boils with neighbors, baseball games, Busch Gardens, Washington DC, Baltimore Harbor, a train ride between Cali and Texas or Florida and Georgia, seeing the Amish for the first time, museums. Like I said before, the list could go on and on, but I won’t bore you with my lists of random summer memories. 🙂
So what makes things so memorable to kids as they/you grow up and reflect on them? Maybe it’s the first time experience? Like my first trip to Disney World/Land just seemed to be magical. It was like being in another world! Not like it isn’t its own world, but for someone who had never been there and hadn’t been beaten down by the universe at that point, the sheer wonder of seeing all that awesomeness at once blinded my childhood mind from seeing anything but! Now, as an adult, you go to the theme parks or water parks and you can’t help but think about just how gross some things truly are. Like the sweaty seats on the rollercoaster in July, or what the hell is floating around in that lazy river, or the sawdust covering up someone’s lunch nearby. Ok. So maybe as a kid you would have noticed the last one, but I think you catch my drift.
So do our minds change so much as we get older that we lose that sense of wonderment, or are we allowing being forced by societal norms to “act like adults?” It’s a bit disheartening. I like to think that I am keeping my childish senses intact, but I do find from time to time that I allow my boring, adult self to take control. As a kid it was all about exploration. Now, as much as I want to go exploring (I really do!) it’s as if I just get all lazy and stubborn; I have no one to go with, it’s hot, it’s muddy, people will think I am weird. Yeah. I know. The last one shouldn’t really bother me. People already think I am weird. But I feel at times I pull off “normal (adult) citizen” quite frickin well, thank you! Although it’s really not that hard to do. 😉
So, summer. The time of hot days, cool water, tan lines, snow cones, driving with the top down, cookouts, ice cream, coolers of beer, dropping anchor, floating rivers, hiking, biking, camping, baseball, natural springs, lilikoi margaritas, jumping into waterfalls, snorkeling, swimming, stand up paddling, reading on blankets at the park, hammocks and wine, bonfires, sweet breezes, suntan oils, glistening skin, jumping off cliffs, blurry romances, shooting stars, outdoor concerts, patio seating with friends, windows down, flip-flops, short shorts, bikinis…
Just a small handful of summer memories and daydreams for you. Hopefully your imagination ran wild for a minute and you added your own thoughts of summertime in there. Here’s to summer! May the magic of all your childhood memories compel you to act like a kid again!
Bonnie’s Beach 🏖 