Summatime, Summatime, Sum, Sum, Summatime!

Sweet, red, ripe watermelon...juicy fingers not wanting to miss one single drop.  Melon the color of honey comb.  Grapes the size of small planets.  And MOJITOS...just the right mix of rum, lime, mint, and more run.  Longer days with no rush to "be" someplace.  Summertime is just upon us.  I can taste it...

Summertime as a kid, meant playing Hide-N-Go-Seek with the neighborhood kids; it got to be really fun AFTER it was dark.  The anxiety of being caught...well, that was just about enough to make me wet my pants.  I guess not much has changed. 

Sweltering days were spent in the  shady creek, behind Meredy-Bell's house, catching polliwogs.  We were little scientists that would watch them transform into frogs, IF we didn't decide to perform some sort or experiment on the poor creatures.  Meredy-Bell and I  also made exquisite "perfume" from the abundance of California State Poppy's that grew nearby...oh yeah, we were ALL that.  We had no idea we were breaking the law, by picking those flowers.  But looking back, it seems fitting that I was lured to the dark side at such a young age.

Popsicles in  every shade of the rainbow that stained my tongue and lips bright red, so I looked like a movie star.  My bare feet on hot cement...I quickly learned to run quickly to the shady spots that would provide temporary relief, before running to the next one.  My blond hair, dyed a deep, dark green from swimming, and Foxy cursing it all, pouring tomato paste, or catchup on my noggin with abundance to remove the chlorine.  Nothing worked, but I didn't dare say so.  Door bell ditching, making prank phone calls, doing drive-by's of boys houses I had crushes on, working at Y-Camp. The summers of my youth rocked.

Summer is like this amazing time that represents renewal, relaxation, and well, more alcohol consumption.  As I've gotten older, I have started my own little traditions with my girls. 

We "camp" at Big Basin in tent cabins.  If you think I'm gonna do my job in the dirt, with no roof of any sort over my head, you're sorely mistaken.  But I'm not a total diva; I refuse to shower.  Brush my teeth? Yes.  Shower?  Hell no!  I like to get that greasy grime between the tooties after hiking all day.  It is a representation of an amazing day spent in nature...AND that it's time for wine. 

As the girls get older, I DO want them to experience REAL camping:  in the dirt, sleeping on the ground under the stars...just as long as mama has an aerobed.   I always felt an intense feeling of survival after I made it out of one of those trips alive.  Especially backpacking.  It never ceased to amaze me that the world continued to turn, while I was out in the wilderness, roughing it, eating trail mix like nobody's business.  Away from any 7-11, Jack in the Box, or I don't know, liquor store.

Beach days are a necessity now.  The twins just got wetsuits this last summer, and I can't keep them out of the water.  I, on the other hand, have no problem observing them from the beach.  Normally, Daddy will get in the ocean with them.  But during the week when Tom is working, we go to Crow's Nest Beach with folks from Booksin.  My friend, Matt Beasley, who is an at-home mom/dad,  gets in that freezing ass cold water with the kids.  You are a bigger woman than I, Matt.  I must remain focused on the really important stuff: my tan.

Summer concerts in downtown Willow Glen are always a kick-ass outing.  By the time it's over, 4 bottles of wine have been polished off between  friends, and it is in that moment, we decide collectively, THE PARTY MUST GO ON!  And so 2 or 3 families rally, and end up at some one's house, where kids watch a show and pass out on a couch.  And the adults...well, the adults end up WALKING home.

The summer would not be complete without a trip to "Uncle Ron's" cabin in Arnold.  Since his passing, the cabin actually now belongs to my cousin, Angela, who is cool enough to let us visit now and again.  Day trips to Lake Alpine, Big Trees State Park, and Colombia eagerly await us.  We pack in a lunch, make a day out of wherever we're going, come home happily exhausted,  to eat dinner and shower.  What follows is my  favorite time of day:  cocktail hour(s)!  We poor ourselves a frosty, cold tumbler, and proceed to make the 2 mile walk around the golf course.  Screaming at the kids, who are on scooters, the entire time, "STAY TO YOUR RIGHT!"  By the time we get back to the cabin, it's beddy-bye for the kiddos, and party time for the big kiddos.  Playing cards late into the night, screaming obscenities at each other.  Ahhh, good times.

I love summer.  I am convinced that the reason I appreciate it so much, is because it only happens one season a year.  Only 3 months, and then, just as quickly as it came upon us, it fades into fall.  Summer never disappoints.  And it always leaves me wanting just a little bit more...With my anti-gravity chair in tow, I'm feeling like it may be the best one yet!