By Shelley Bennett
Nine weeks… well, actually eight weeks now. Eight weeks of summer vacation stretch out in front of us like a sandy path to the ocean.
As a child, I had little concept of what eight weeks meant. To me, summer was broken up into five parts: before July 4th, the 4th of July, before the fair, Fair Week, back to school shopping, and Labor Day, which meant the first day of school.
In between these big events, my summer was spent at the library where we always participated in the summer reading program, cooling off at the wading pool in Memorial Park, riding bikes, swimming lessons with Safie, catching hellgramites in the Susan River, quilting at Grandma’s and visiting family in Modesto.
Trips to Modesto were always fun, but hot! I don’t remember anyone ever having air conditioning, including my grandma’s car. We just rolled down the windows and hoped for a breeze. One memorable trip included breaking down on Donner Pass on our way home.
Before we left Modesto, we had picked several flats of peaches that now laid on the floorboard of my grandma’s Charger. The peach fuzz made us itchy and the heat just exacerbated it. My grandma had picked up a puppy on this trip and my mom brought home a cockatoo named Starsky in a cage, so I’m sure we looked like a traveling circus to the passersby.
I don’t recall how, but a tow truck arrived and took us to Colfax where the garage assured us a quick fix. They offered us drinks and told us there was a pool right down the street where we could cool off.
I think I just jumped in with my clothes on, and I remember how wonderful the water felt, washing off the heat and grime of the day, soothing the peach fuzz itchies. Then my brother Casey got this huge piece of blue paint stuck underneath his toenail. The details are blurry, but I remember that it was a BIG DEAL and stopped our swimming fun.
A lot of my memories of Casey include him getting injured in the middle of something fun. (i.e. bird whistle stuck down his throat while chasing him around the couch, stitches in his chin right before a trip in my Dad’s old blue pickup, stitches in his knee on our way to park, emergency trip to Stanford Medical Center during Kindergarten Round Up, etc.)
Sorry, Case. You really did get more coordinated as you got older. I don’t remember any fun you have stopped in the last 25-30 years.
As a teacher, summer is a time to catch up on projects, sleep, organization, and fun. Not having a bell schedule is a luxury that I appreciate every day. There is also a lot of pressure as a parent to produce the perfect summer, whether it’s a big-time trip, fabulous activities every day, or something else yet to be identified by your children.
My middle child, Landon, was notorious for reminding me on August 1st that we hadn’t done ANYTHING fun that summer. He also had a hard time defining what that fun should be. Leo and I would rally the money and energy for an afternoon at a water park or professional baseball game or a camp out at Antelope and hope it would suffice.
Today I have spent the morning scheduling appointments: sports physicals, ortho, dentist, dog groomer. Not really the way you want to spend eight weeks, but necessary. Sofia reminded me that eight weeks means only eight more Lake Days, so I pencil them in too.
I add in preparation for the Miss Lassen County pageant, Drill Team practices and camp, and a day to clean my classroom and those eight weeks shrink. We will fill in the open spots with a family trip to the coast, relocating Jacob to college, and a Friends/Family Dinner on the 4th, trying to pack in as much fun and make as many memories as possible, and hopefully succeed in fulfilling everyone’s dream of Summer Vacation.
It’s not always about the lavish hotel stays and getting away, sometimes it’s the simple things like chasing the ice cream truck and make S’mores in the backyard. How is your summer unfolding?
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