If you could pick one song to sum up everything that is "summer," what would it be? Can any one song, poem or picture really capture the running-through-the-sprinklers, driving-with-the-windows-down roller coaster that goes from May to August?
As it turns out, summer can be seen as a unique psychological phenomenon. On the surface, it's one big long party where you can stay up as late as you want to without worrying about homework. But may I venture an analysis of the deeper level of summer?
Yes?
All right, then.
Under the surface of these carefree summer nights, there seems to be a hint of desperation that intensifies every year (at least in my 21 years of experience)--a knowledge that this freedom won't last forever. As children we lived a day at a time, never planning or worrying. Now that we're older, we realize that this cycle repeats itself every 365.25 days, and we have a much better idea of what's waiting for us from season to season. Everything we have has a shelf life--jobs, relationships, packages of hot dogs--and we're scrambling to do as much as we can with the time we have.
Even for those who don't get a summer vacation, summer is a time to be celebrated. Walking outside in bare feet, building bonfires, eating fresh peaches, doing who-knows-what with chalk and silly string...in just a moment, this will all be over.
Ladies and gentlemen, it has indeed been a summer.
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A remarkable summer indeed, Andie! This summer of 2012 will remain in your memory as a bright and sunny spot for many decades to come. The summer you shopped and prepared to leave on your mission. The summer you noticed little blessings are bigger and more important than you ever realized. The summer you recognized that time is as fragile and translucent as spun glass. The summer you left behind childhood and became an amazing young woman!
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