“Schoooool’s out for summer..... Schooool’s out forever!”
Between the amount of sports camps, summer activities and events, the first line of that Alice Cooper seems less and less likely. The second line is just improbable.
Wyndi and I enjoy the events we cover during the school year but when we started more than 18 years ago, summer meant the ability to catch up on special projects or squeeze in a trip or two.
As we start July, I’m still waiting to feel some summer slowdown, but I have managed a couple of trips with another coming up for us to see Wyndi’s mom.
At the beginning of June, I got to see my cousin in a very delayed trip. He and I share a love of movies, music, collectibles and coffee. He’s currently recuperating from a pretty major injury but I enjoyed just getting to spend time with him, sharing movies the other might have missed, grabbing some awesome food and coffee and visiting some stores.
We followed this with a trip to see a friend I’ve had since 12 years old as well as his wife and five daughters. Once again, some great food (this time, a Texas Monthly-ranked BBQ joint named Evie Mae’s) and shopping was had. That provided one of the best moments as we bought Barnes and Noble gift cards for each of them and got to witness the delight as they selected books they wanted from Korean cookbooks to fantasy retellings to Percy Jackson books and a 19th installment to nearly complete a collection. It is equally disheartening and cool to see how much they’ve grown in the months between visits, and I can scarcely believe the oldest two are high schoolers.
These visits were quick, seemingly over just after they began and both came with planning to cover events we missed (Thanks to our photographers!) as well as some busy days playing catchup.
In frustration, it’s easy to wonder if the short visits are worth all the extra work, but remembering the moments of laughter playing games or just quiet conversations bonding with family and friends, I encourage everyone to seize these moments because summer doesn’t last forever.
-Paul Gaudette can be reached at publisher@dublincitizen.com.