I love summer. Love love love, best time of the entire year. But sadly, this is also the season that goes by the quickest and is taken for granted so often. Example: I am quickly approaching my 21st birthday (not that old) and I have already had three summers that have basically been ignored. I worked full time (M-F 8-5) between my high school junior and senior year as well as my senior to college freshman year and then went to school and worked full time during my college junior to senior year. I didn't get sun (I'd forgotten how nice it is to not have glow-in-the-dark legs), I didn't get vacations, I got week breaks, but I was incredibly productive.
What? Since when was summer a time of productivity? It is a time of fun and recuperation and preparing yourself for the coming school year (I say this with complete bias since I will be in school for the rest of my life--if not teaching than ideally vicariously through my children). But no worries, these summers that were barely summers for me have been made up for in this summer alone. Really though.
Quick recap on my adventures these past couple months. Right after I moved home I went to Colorado (driving through Wyoming) then later I road tripped to San Francisco (driving through Nevada). A week later I went to Washington DC (layovers in Colorado and Nebraska and staying in Virginia). Two weeks after that I went to Idaho (with an evening trip into Montana). Including my home state Utah, In a matter of 4 months, I have been in 10 states. For not having anything planned when I moved home, not too shabby right?
Traveling like I have been has been awesome. 'Well naturally' you may say, but there is more too it. It has been so great to see people in all these places and continually realize that the world is not a scary place and there are so many people that are so nice and willing to help you out, even when you don't realize you are in fact in need of said help. I went to San Francisco with my best friend and we were continually being watched out for. It was amazing to us. From people helping us not get ripped off at an ATM, to figuring out how to use the muni and making sure our car didn't get towed and helping us order Chinese food and how to use chopsticks. In DC we talked to the greatest people on the metro that were so sweet in our maneuvering a stroller with an adorable-but-not-always-happy-16-month-old. At 4th of July celebrations the sweetest man next to us took pictures of my nephew to send to my sister-in-law and the littler kids all played with each other pushing leaves into the grate, no parents telling kids they weren't allowed to play with strangers. On the plane I got to sit by this lady who has a daughter who also looks like she is still in high school but is actually teaching and she was able to to give me some awesome advice and she was so interested in my well being, wishing me luck time and time again as we got off the plane. In Idaho my old professors said just the things I needed to hear and were so willing to talk to a former student who really just wanted to talk to people she admired and my family and roommates were so wonderful and accommodating to what turned our to be five different beds in five consecutive nights (I think I reached 'expert level' in couch surfing). Not to mention all the fun things that go on right here at home, reconnecting with friends from high school and meeting knew people every time you turn a corner, always looking for a new adventure.
I guess it is just so refreshing to go out, experience what is at home and so much more, seeing that there is goodness that is just waiting to be had. There is a world of filth, grim and low life, but beyond that there is a whole world of good, honest people who are looking to live a good life, just like us.
Plus there are beaches, shopping, museums, history, and all around good times too... What I am getting at is that even though Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, it is not even in the same league as summer.
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