Melancholy

I don't often complain about getting older, it's gonna happen whether or not we complain about it or not. Birthdays don't bother me too much, yet. (Unless they are my kids' birthdays then I get a little weepy...)

However, this summer has had some affect on me. It's not that I feel old, I am just missing the summers of my youth. This probably will sound a little "Stand By Me-ish" (with out the dead body!)- and for that I apologize. (FYI- if I heard the song right now, I would probably burst into tears!)

The summer before 6th grade, my family moved from the big city of Shoreline to the sticks of Woodinville. Back then, it was what I called Hicktown. It felt like we had moved a million miles from civilization- I remember wondering if the kids would listen to the same radio stations or watch the same tv shows. It felt like we were moving out of the country when in reality we moved a whopping 30 minutes NE.

Although at the time I was completely traumatized by that 30 minute move, my parents knew what they were doing and were giving my brother and I a better life than we probably would have had, if we had stayed in Shoreline. We moved into the friendliest neighborhood and I made the bestest of best friends.

We had a swimming pool in our back yard, so during the summer our house was the place to hang out. Kids we barely knew would come and knock on our door and ask if we could hang out. Gee, wonder where they were the rest of the year? The pool opened the last day of school and closed a couple of weeks after school started in the fall. We'd have neighborhood BBQs and huge 4th of July parties.

Our days were spent in the pool and our nights were spent playing flashlight tag. Some nights we were literally out playing until the sun came up. We'd dress head to toe in black so as to not be seen, we took the game pretty seriously. We would play between 3 houses which gave us 3 acres to run around and try to find the perfect hiding spot. Sometimes we hid alone, other times we paired off. Once you found the perfect spot and weren't found, that was the spot to go back to over and over and over. There were some pretty creative spots- on top of the pool house, in an unlocked car, under the deck, laying in the middle of the yard that needed to be mowed! A time or two people would fall asleep hiding.

Those were the best summers ever. Which is why I find myself with a the Summertime Blues. I would give just about anything to go back to those days and play flashlight tag for a few nights with the old gang. This is when getting older sucks. I miss those carefree days of summer and hanging with my friends. I hope that my kids are able to have the same carefree summers and make the same kind of memories as I have.

What are some of your favorite summer memories? What would you go back and do?