Summer begins By Catherine on 5/29/2007 07:08:00 AM
When the pools start opening up, and the grills can be smelled from the sidewalks in my little suburban enclave, and the cat starts trying to get outside every time the door is opened, I know summer is here. It was a grill and birthday weekend, complete with too many hotdogs and lots of Stellas. I feel like a vacation all over again.School (work) is done on 6/15, and on 6/25 I will start my 5th summer as a camp counselor-- in case you didn't know, it's the best job EVER and I'd do it all year round if there was a program like that. There really is nothing more satisfying than being outdoors and playing with children. It's tempting to stay with teaching for just that reason-- summers off, freedom (plus, the benefits are fantastic, I don't think I could afford them otherwise.) Summer makes me want to purge myself of everything unnatural, to sell my possessions and live outdoors and cook over a fire. I forget about things like makeup and hairspray, can wear the same thing to work every day (because, hey, we ALL wear the same thing to work every day), don't worry about freckles or french manicures or moisturizer... Basically, summer symbolizes for me a return to how I like myself best-- simple, free, unworried. I know it's not really like that, and I'm probably somehow doing myself a great emotional injustice in saddling summer with all this meaning, but the long days and sunshine make reality a bit easier to ignore.
I think now would be a good time to start the process of weeding out what I want for myself from what is expected of me. It's also a good time to downsize on "stuff", as I know I own too many THINGS, and want to be rid of some of them. Clothes that don't fit, knick-knacks, paperwork that should be shredded or burned, a million pillows from my dorm-room years... there aren't enough words.
Labels: freedom, friends, summer