Long, hot summer

It's been brutal here in Columbia, SC. On pace to set a record for days topping 100 degrees. The record was in 1958: 28 days at or above 100. We're at 21 with seven weeks of summer to go. When you're a kid, you love summer no matter how hot it is. Summer is no school. Summer is swimming pools and beaches and amusement parks. Summer is sleepovers, playing all day and night, watching TV and movies more than you should. Probably my favorite childhood summer was 1977, the summer of "Star Wars." I went to the theater nine times that summer to see that movie. I had the soundtrack, bought the t-shirt. We spent a week at the beach that year, renting a condo in Garden City, SC. One of those magic vacations. That was also our first summer in our new house, and we had not one, but two neighbors with swimming pools. Spent many hours there diving for pennies, dodging horseflies, doing flips off diving boards.

As I got older, easing into college and young adulthood, had quite a few magic summers as well. Summer 1987, between my junior and senior year in college. Instead of going home that year, I stayed in Athens, GA at UGA campus. Took a job painting and waterproofing the big six-story library in the heart of campus. Spent days on scaffolding, suspended above the earth, but it was fun. College towns in the summer are like having a VIP room all to yourself. The crazy crowds are gone, but there is still plenty of mischief, fun, and romance to get into. Had plenty of all three that summer.

Summer 1990 in Atlanta was probably the most glowing and special. I was 23 and had just gotten back from my time in the Peace Corps in Zaire/Congo. It was a special time, the whole world in front of us. Moved in a small, but awesome two-bedroom apartment with one of my best college buddies Drew Young. Right in the middle of Virginia-Highlands, the best, funkiest, most fun semi-bohemian neighborhood at that time along with Little Five Points. We paid $250 a month rent TOTAL : $125 each. Plenty left over to go out every night, see bands, eat out every day (I don't think we cooked a single meal at home). Lots of sex and sexy fun. We were jumping and laughing toward adulthood, not yet too serious about life, but starting to figure out who we really were and what we might become.

A lot of talk about summer: but actually, I prefer Fall. Especially now as the years pile up. The nasty heat just plain sucks. I want to spend everyday either inside with the AC full blast, or just soaking in a swimming pool. Counting the days until those first cool breezes start to tumble through the sky, and football, state fairs, and leaves start changing. Back to school shopping, jackets, sweaters, flushed cheeks, Halloween, and Thanksgiving all kick into overdrive.

For me, at this age, that is when the real magic now happens.