The Happiest Summers

I'm taking a break from my typical worrying over the schooling show (brief update: I apparently am capable of maneuvering three parts of hair into a braid; making it pretty, however, is something else) to reminisce a little over some of the best summers of my life. When I look back, these are the three summers that stick out in my mind:

The summer after college graduation. After I got my degree I took off on a backpacking trip around the western states and Canada. It was a blast! I went by myself, lived off spaghetti and peanut butter, stayed in youth hostels or crashed with long-lost friends, met awesome people, hiked in national parks...an amazing summer, all around. This was my last "free" summer before starting my first professional job, which was all lined up in an East coast city with an autumn starting date. So I had the freedom of traveling around like a wandering hippie, but the security of knowing I had a stable, professional job with a 401k waiting for me when I was done traveling.

The summer I was 16. This was the year my friends and I all got our driver's licenses and discovered we could do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. This was basically just a happy time of girlie friendships and good old-fashioned fun. It was also the last summer before my mother's cancer diagnosis, so in many ways it was my last carefree one.

The summer I was 11. This was the year my mom started to trust me riding on the trail without her. (She was very protective and safety-conscious when it came to riding.) So for that summer, I partnered up with a slightly older girl named Trudy and her saint of a quarter horse, Domino. We hit the trails together, explored, and had an amazing time. For me, it was a novelty to be out on horseback without my mom's protective watch. And there was something so deliciously grown up about being dropped off at the stable to groom, tack up and take care of my horse truly all on my own.

I look back at these summers and notice the theme of freedom and independence. I can still remember the thrill of moments in my childhood/teen years when I realized I did not have to rely on anybody else, but could just do what I wanted. Like when I was 12 and on vacation with my family. I really wanted to go ice skating, but no one would take me, and I realized the rink was within walking distance of our hotel and I could just go on my own! Or when suburbs-raised me stayed with a family member in a more urban area for a few weeks, and I figured out that (gasp!) I could take the public bus instead of relying on adults to drive me around. Every time something like that happened I had a little epiphany that this was my life and I could handle things on my own.

I think I'm doing a pretty good job of carrying that independent spirit into my current life. And that includes the three loves represented in those summers past: horses, good friends and an adventurous, exploring spirit.

And yes, it does kind of depress me that since that first post-college summer, I've been hard at work in an office job every summer since. I wish I had the calling to be a teacher, because that would be sweet. But I can't complain about my life, and right now I feel pretty grateful for all that I have.

Even if I do suck at braiding.