Do you remember how cool it was the last day of school each year? I fondly remember the last day of school. During elementary school, it meant spending a lot of time at my grandmother's house during the summers while my mom worked. She had a big sand pile and I pretty much spent most of the day playing with trucks and cars in the sand or on the grass. When I wasn't playing cars, I was riding my bike pretending to be "John" from the TV show CHIPS, or I was packing a gun around playing like I was a cowboy. Occasionally I would get some money and go to Harmon's grocery store and buy some ammo. (caps) I would shoot Indians and cougars from the trees. I'm guessing neither one of those things is politically correct for our kids to do today. If the polar bears are close to extinction, cougars are right behind them I'm sure....
Then came middle school. By this time I was old enough to stay home by myself in the summer. I'd sleep until 11 a.m. get up, do my chores (a gazillion a day) eat lunch, and then call my friends. We'd meet at someones house, and then head down to Dan's grocery store and buy a 25 cents ice cream cone. If I had money left over, I'd go buy a big gulp at the 7-11. Neither Dan's nor 7-11 was close by. It would take us 30 minutes to walk there and 30 minutes to walk back. We might spend some time at the arcade (inside Dan's) or we might head up to Flat Iron Mesa afterwards and play baseball, tennis, or just hang out and try to meet girls. Summers were a ton of fun.
Once high school came along, I worked during the summers. My schedule when I first turned sixteen was not great for socializing because I was delivering pizzas at night. I didn't date a lot because every night I was cruising in my 75 Nova, listening to cool New Wave music on the radio or on cassette tapes. I actually really liked that job. This is probably where my real addiction to Diet Coke started. I had to buy my first cup each night, but then the rest of the night was free refills. Man I drank a lot of Diet Coke. Driving all night hyped-up on Diet Coke, listening to Oingo Boingo... it really was a good gig. It combined my three most favorite things (Cars, Music, and Food)... OK so I had five favorite things. Diet Coke which it included, and girls.... No girls really, except the other pizza delivery girls....and there was little time to sit around and chat. Pony Express Pizza was busy every night. The next year I had got a job at a Texaco gas station, where I would work for the next 4 years. (Again, all the Diet Coke this guy could drink)... No wonder they never made a profit! But those were fun summer nights. We would get so many teenagers in getting gas and hanging out every night was a blast. We'd close at 10 PM and then it was usually off to someones house or we'd just sit and talk. Those were good times.
Fast forward now 20 years and last Friday was my kid's last day of school. They had a big party at our house with water balloons, slip-n-slide, trampoline, sprinklers, etc. Lot's of fun in the sun. As the old guy who's the bread-winner, I was at work busy selling cables. The magic of summer is mostly gone. I have little to look forward to during the summer. But I do love summertime. It's still my favorite time of the year. I love the smells, especially in the morning and at night. It brings floods of memories back to me of being a boy, and having nothing but a lot of playing to get done during the day. Now even my Saturdays seem to be filled with yard work, errands, etc. Life is busy.
One thing that is nice this year is we suspended our satellite TV for the summer. Our kids are bummed that they don't get to watch Sponge Bob 24/7, but it's a good thing. We find ourselves outdoors more, reading more, and talking more. I love our TV, and I really love the convenience of turning on the TV and watching TiVo'd programs. But I'll survive, and so will my kids.
We don't have any real family vacations planned this summer, which is a downer. But, I hope to get out and do a little camping, and at least one night I'll sleep out in the back yard with my kids (they love that). I love tall glasses of ice water after mowing the lawn or doing some activity outside in the sun. I love walks in the evening, and the smells of flowers, the sounds of sprinklers or running water in the canyons. I love sitting in the hot tub and seeing the millions of stars in the sky. Summer is here and I love it!
Whatever we do this summer, I will enjoy the warmth, the sun, the long days, Barbecues, hanging out with family, and yes, the cold Diet Coke.
Until next time
The Cable Guy
www.professionalcable.com
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