Little Simple Summer Things

I've been beating myself up lately. Kicking myself in the stomach. Worrying that I haven't been able to give you kids a "summer to remember". I feel like I'm always trying to beat your clock. I constantly want to shove it all in; everything I think you need to experience as a kid. I want you to feel it, taste it, smell it - remember it. Remember us.

So on the days when I'm not working, I try to plan fun things. I dream up excursions. Things I think you would want to do. Things that I think you will remember and tell your kids about. It's important to me. It burns in me.

But yesterday, when Lil' and I went on a quick bike trip up to the Lil' Cricket to get a Push-Up, I started remembering my summers:

A pool so soaked in the smell of gardenias it almost made you choke.
Running through sheets on the clothesline.
A hot wooden dock under my feet.
The burn from a ski rope.
Ice Cream truck jingles.
Sippin' honeysuckles.
Diesel fuel and brim.
Jumping in waves.
Bicycle grease on my legs.

Class in session - here's the lesson: I remember that we took vacations and I know they were fun and it was so great that my Dad was with us and wasn't working. I remember that my Mom was happy and relaxed. But what stands out for me the most from my summers as a kid were the little things that we did everyday. The things that were easy and the things that I expected every summer. The little simple summer things.