Summer Breeze

It is Tuesday. The flags are flying at half mast here, black armbands are snug on the figurative bicep. The days of freedom are done.

School starts tomorrow. The wife goes back to work, the boy begins his first day of high school. Neither are thrilled. The summer was cold and very wet. Baseball lasted so long, there were not many days of freedom. The oldest boy returns to college next week (sophomore). He has worked so much all summer I have hardly gotten to see him. That makes me sad. That is him in the picture, a hundred years ago, enjoying a slide. The daughter finished summer classes and is leaving for a week in Florida with her boyfriend (I am not thrilled by that, but she is going to be 22 next month). She starts school in a few weeks as well. This is her Senior year in college.

School should last from Labor Day to Memorial day. This starting in mid-August is crap. I bet the kids would take a few less days at Christmas, scrap MLK Day and Fall Break to get a few more days of summer. I know I would.

I remember riding my big white Free Spirit ten speed (with the curved racing handlebars) around town. There was nowhere I would not go. Going to the pool, flirting and having a blast. But the days get shorter and we cannot stop time. In a couple of months the first snowflakes will fall.

The boy faces a tough decision. Should he sleep late, his last day of summer or get up and go wild as long as possible. I bet he votes for sleep. Teenagers...