At least for me it is…

This morning as I was walking home from the bank, I noticed, in the distance, a little girl come out of her house,  She was wearing her bathing suit.  What flashed in my head was a memory of how summer used to be…  when I was a kid, and even through high school…  until I got my first job.  Actually, even after I had my first job because it was just part-time and I usually worked in the afternoons.  We were never allowed to sleep late, but since I had diving practice at 7am every day in the summer, I was up early anyway.  As soon as I got up, I put my bathing suit on.  And more often than not, when we were on vacation in Cape Hatteras, to save time in the mornings, I would simply sleep in my bathing suit.  That way I was ready as soon as I woke up to get my day started.  Or I was just lazy and sleeping in it was one less thing I had to do when I got up.  Anyway, seeing that little girl this morning reminded me that summer is a different experience when you are a kid.  I think that only children, and retired adults, can truly, truly enjoy summer.

I live in Southern California where it is, pretty much, always summer, at least it seems that way.  Still, there is something about the ‘real’ summertime that feels different.  And here on Coronado, the island is gearing up for the big 4th of July festivities.  That makes it even more of a challenge for me to come home and work.  Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, and know that I am very fortunate to be self-employed and to work at home.  However, it is times like this that make me long for a time when all I had to do in the morning was get up, put my bathing suit on and go to the pool for the entire day.  I do have slipcovers that must be finished before the 4th though, so I will do what has to be done.  Just know that in my mind, in my imagination, I am playing in the ocean like the dolphin I always wanted to be when I grew up!

These pictures were taken at a swim meet on 9 June 1975, my fifteenth birthday.  I dove and then swam several events: