Oh, how we all wait for summer!! We sit around the house all winter, wrapped in our snuggies, sipping something hot and wishing, wishing, wishing. Then, reality hits. We have to get the yard in shape. We fight bees, bugs, and look for snakes when we pull weeds. We wipe our 
sweaty faces off with the good, white tee shirt we should not have worn to do this dirty work. (Those spots will never respond to Shout.) It will end up as a dust rag! Our flip flops get wet and grassy; we slip and slide and risk breaking a hip on the little hill we should have had landscaped years ago. We swear we will wear tennis shoes next time, but the flip flops are so very tempting we don’t keep that promise. We chug cold water and lemonade and bloat ourselves up with diet colas, then complain that our shorts fit last summer, what the heck happened to our waistlines? We rub fake tan on our poor legs because dark skin makes us look skinnier, and spray insect repellent all over ourselves only to still fight mosquitos. Our yards take control of us until the river calls us out, and the real fun begins.
It takes us three hours to get ready for a one hour boat ride. We let the dogs ride in the boat with us, then we have to keep our mouths shut so their hair wont fly into our mouths. We imagine the wild abandon we will feel when we ride over the sparkling water, then remember the camera left laying on the picnic table. Will it be stolen, or get rained on? Turn around, go back. Oh, crap, I left my cell phone on the couch. Go back. Did you get the cooler with the kids water in it? Go back again. Before you know it, its getting dark. Well, at least we will see the sun set. After a swim, the boat won’t crank!!!!!! We are stuck in the middle of the river waiting for a good Samaritan to save us. The three kids are crying…one of them is pretending to be asleep under a towel, and one is begging for the computer game he was not allowed to bring. We are gonna be out in nature, and no gaming allowed! My husband’s 25 dollar cap has flown off his head and landed in a 
wave..it’s gone for good. My expensive sunglasses were last seen flying off my head and glinting in the sun as they head down to hopefully later be cut out of a twenty pound catfish. We finally think to check the killswitch, and its on, so we needlessly waited an hour for someone to come along and save us. My husband laughs and says, “I fixed it!!!” I try not to roll my eyes when he is looking..The boat is running!!!! Everyone just wants to go home…..we are tired, burned, wet, grouchy, hungry. As soon as our feet hit the ground, we say “That was so much fun!! Thank you for taking us!! Let’s do it again tomorrow!!”
And the yard looks beautiful. Flowers are blooming all over, the sunset is so colorful; there are a few drinks left in the cooler, cold, sweet and bubbly. We sit on the pier, hug the kids, pet the dogs, complain about our lost stuff, and talk about important things. Things like, “Tell me about when you were little, PawPaw.” “Big Momma, can you fix my flip flop?” “Look at the pretty flowers I picked for you!!” (…sigh) “Watch me do a cannonball!!!”
Summer brings out the best and the worst in us. We look forward to it, then suffer through it. We waited a long time, through a lot of weird weather to get here….so you all get out and enjoy the sun, your kids or grand-kids, your husband, wife, mate, significant other, and take on the heat, warts and all!! Go fishing…have a picnic, take a walk, swim, ski, laugh, wipe off that sweat!! Rub some aloe vera on that sunburn….Fall and winter will be here before you turn around twice. Just like life, it changes or ends in an instant. Treasure it all……………and make good memories!! See you around!!
