Memoirs of a Summer Devotee

I sat outside last night for a while and listened to the rain. It was coming down really hard, complete with lightning and thunder. I have always been a huge fan of summer thunderstorms. In fact, I've never quite understood people who are scared of them - they are so deliciously inviting. As I sat outside I couldn't help but rewind to my childhood and how much I loved those severe, flash flood, desert thunderstorms. The smell of wet cement and wood flashed me back to my past and I spent a few moments just relishing in my memories.

I love how my parents bedroom and bathroom always used to smell in the summertime - fresh, like a mix of soap and nature. I love how the air outside would smell like rain, sometimes hours before the first drop fell. The summers I spent in the backyard every day with the my sisters and the neighbor kids... climbing trees, playing house, running through the sprinklers, or trying (successfully) to fry an egg on the hot sidewalk. The 4th of July parties our entire neighborhood would throw - a parade, bbq, games and communal fireworks. The summers, when as an older teenager, I worked with my friends, and we spent our paychecks shopping at the mall, our free time sunning at the pool, and our evenings cruising for guys and fun parties.

Sometimes getting caught up in memories makes it hard to drag yourself back to the present. Mostly because I can't believe how long ago all of that was, when it still seems so fresh in my mind. I can't believe my kids won't ever know that side of me. But I do wonder what they will reminisce about one day. What will K-squared look back on from their childhood with a sense of wistfulness? I hope we are creating a menagerie of beautiful memories for them to pull from, much like my own, and that their childhoods are as fun and carefree as any childhood should be. And I really hope that their summers carry the same sense of magic mine always have.