Summer Breeze

We were at my nephew's family birthday party the other night at my brother's house and some Seals & Crofts made its way through the mix. It resonated with me for this post: What better way to convey the sense of our summer than the light, airy, near-mindless harmonies of the soft rock duo? Makes me feel fine....

Before I recap our season, though, I have another priority to address first:

It is the start of September, which puts me a month out from my charity cycling challenge with the Pablove organization. The response to my pleas for support has been extraordinary. I have run out of superlatives to describe it and ways to express my gratitude. Nonetheless: Thank you. Again. Originally, my goal was to raise $10,000 for Pablove and--since this is all new to me--I had no idea if I would achieve that or not. As it turns out, donations exceeded $10,000 some time ago! As a result, I was inspired recently to raise my target to $15,000 and I am approaching that level steadily. Given that September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, how fitting would it be to make a final push in the next few weeks and surpass that revised goal? If you have been thinking about giving, but have not gotten around to it yet, I encourage you to do so now at the following link:

http://www.stayclassy.org/fundraise?fcid=244077

Any amount gets me closer to my new objective and is deeply appreciated.

Summer. It is probably not accurate to state that our summer was perfect. It was not. But--and I may be guilty of romanticizing this a bit--it was largely ideal. I don't really know why or how--it was quite by accident--but we seemed to strike that delicate balance of slowing down and enjoying the days, while also remaining productive and accomplishing a good amount of work. We did not fritter away our time, nor did we fail to embrace it. The result was understated, but with just the right amount of activity. In short, we will probably never get it that right again.

We started in mid-June with a trip to New England for my 25th High School Reunion. The purpose of this event was twofold: 1. To prove that I am old, and 2. To prove that I am easily entertained (Noggle?!). We followed this with our family vacation, which was spent in the saggy triceps area of the Cape. It was beautiful and relaxing and--dare I say--almost boring. Thankfully, we were resourceful and kept ourselves occupied with time at the beach, various day trips and outings, and a generous quantity of lobster rolls, some of which required serious strong-arming to get down.

And then, it got "uncomfortable": Our family vacation concluded with us dropping off Lucia at sleep-away camp. For the first time. Ever. For a month. On the other side of the country. Needless to say, this was a difficult time for me and I drove away from that experience a blubbering mess.... But, I was proud of her for wanting to go and excited for her to experience...whatever it is that goes on at summer camp. (As it turns out, it's mainly a lot of strange and silly songs.) And so, my emotional distress was short-lived. I was sad to leave her, but once we were home and she was settled in and having a good time, I was able to embrace the "sweet spot" that was the rest of our summer. For me, this meant work and cycling and projects around the house. For Cynthia, this meant work and yoga and projects around the house. Good times...(seriously).

Andrew attended local day camps and seemed to enjoy himself. Perhaps more importantly, he re-discovered his cousins, who live up the street, and started spending time with them riding his bike, swimming and playing games. In particular, his excitement over his bike really struck me. I was about ten when I discovered BMX bikes, thirteen when I discovered 10-speeds. For me, those moments changed my life and I fell in love with the bicycle, not only because it was a fun and exciting toy, but because it was a mechanism for freedom and independence. On a bicycle, I could travel great distances, see many things and experience places outside of my immediate area. Andrew got a taste of that this summer. I don't know if it affected him the way it clearly affected me, but I certainly (secretly) hope it did.

I recognize that this probably would not have happened had Lucia not gone to sleep-away camp. The truth is that the watchwords of our summer were growth and independence--all around. Lucia gained some maturity through her camp experience, in terms of being on her own; meanwhile, those of us at home experienced our own growth in realizing that we could carry on despite her absence. This was especially true of Andrew, who tended to rely on his sister, not only for certain assistance, but for basic, daily companionship. We were all pushed out of our comfort zones a bit for a month this summer and all benefited in the end. Moreover, in the case of Lucia, not only do I feel that she grew by going to camp, but I think that she also came to appreciate the old adage, There's no place like home--warts (read little brothers) and all.

We then entered the smorgasbord section of our summer, with a disjointed assortment of camps, sleepovers, short trips, etc. filling the kids' time. They attended art camp, cooking class, soccer workshops, spent time at their grandparent's and visited their (other) cousins in Philadelphia, as they filled out the month of August and wound down the summer season. Cooking class was perhaps the greatest coup, in that the kids brought home vast quantities of food to feed us for a week. Granted, it did put tremendous strain on our Tupperware supply. And then...

...school started. Just this week. And so, that routine begins.... And I swear--two and a half days in--the bliss of our near-perfect Summer Breeze summer has been vaporized by the trauma and turmoil of fall.... Still, we enjoyed it while it lasted.

I hope your summer was as satisfying as ours; may your fall not rob you of those memories too soon. Take care.

Paul