the loss of summer

I knew what I would greet when I opened the front door this morning. summer. summer in aaall of its southern virginia glory. at 8 a.m., it was already 82 degrees. add in the humidity & it already felt like 90. I considered taking the time to trade in my hot coffee for the iced coffee variety. No, not enough time. I slid my hooded jacket off the coat rack since the office is usually cold & my phone was telling me to expect thunderstorms right about the time that I would be walking back to my car at the end of the day. the rain almost always waits until about 4:50 p.m. before it pours, it seems. bring it on, I thought.

as I tugged open the door & took my first step into the day, I was filled with summer. wednesday was technically the first day of summer, I know that, but my head has been in 348 places this week, & this morning was my first acknowledgement that summer has arrived. & not only was summer staring me in the face, but there was this nostalgia factor that I wasn’t expecting.

it felt distinctly like a high school summer day. one of those mornings that I should have slept in until at least 10 a.m. because I stayed up until way-too-late-o-clock for absolutely no reason. one of those mornings that you just go straight to bathing suit, regardless of whether or not the day’s plans involve water. & after I finally rolled out of bed & into a swimsuit, I’d promptly roll myself to the couch to turn on the tv & watch a What Not to Wear marathon or Dawson’s Creek reruns until the pool demanded my attention so loudly that I couldn’t ignore it.

instead, I congratulated myself on the choice to leave my hair in its natural state rather than wage war with the humidity, armed with a straightener whose defeat would have been imminent upon opening the door. because professionals don’t have frizzy hair. or something.

it’s a funny thing – growing up, the loss of summer. most days, it’s the gradual acceptance of adulthood that it’s supposed to be. but some days, it’s tough! the daily grind? it’s pretty daily. & grind-y.

I’m leaving next weekend for a visit with my best friend over the 4th of July. it's our favorite holiday. it always has been, since our little town in Indiana celebrates it the best. I haven’t seen her since the day after my wedding, & we’re going to talk about her wedding the entire time I’m there. I need to see her - this girl who I used to spend my summers with who now wears a ring on her finger. the perfect best-friend-who-lives-next-door that spent hours braiding my hair in her backyard as we lazed around on her family’s hammock. swaying under the two giant oak trees that separated our backyards. exhausted from bike rides to & from the neighborhood pool with freeze pops stuffed into our pockets. we’re planning her wedding to her prince, & I get to finally meet him. how many conversations did we share about him surrounded by mosquitos & fireflies?

summer is not all lost. some mornings, I do still roll right into my bathing suit to spend the day under an umbrella at the beach. but the bonus to growing up is that my prince is at my side, which trumps poolside with the family pooches any day.