Things I loved about our trip to Florida:
naps
sunshine
white sand
bike rides
eating pizza by the ocean
getting a tan
coconut ice cream
amazing granola/blueberry quinoa/coconut milk breakfast
time to play Uno with the kids
dinners in our rented house
Things I didn’t love:
biting flies
sand fleas
jelly fish (Only sightings, no stings. They’re beautiful but they scare me.)
pancakes (apparently it’s possible to screw them up) at a local restaurant
Everyone taking turns being grumpy
Things I thought about on the trip:
whether it’s better to be poor in a rural or urban area. Decision: neither
I can’t stand pastel polo shirts and khaki shorts
toddlers in bathing suits are cute
family time is needed
silliness is needed
really good watermelon is better than sucky watermelon
vacations with kids wear you out, no matter what
funny stuff happens when a toddler is overtired
I am better at remembering things fondly than enjoying them while they happen
I am so enormously glad it’s summer
Marc said something on our way home on Saturday. “It’s June 1st. We’re almost half way to Christmas.” Man, shut up. After a long winter that only recently passed, and after a gloriously warm week spent on the beach, I don’t want to think about anything winter-oriented coming. Ever. Ugh. I’ve got summer camps, pool time, lemonade stands and the fourth of July on the brain, and introducing the possibility of snow and ice is jumbling it up. I’m looking at the puffy clouds of a summer storm looming outside the car window and am so thankful the drops won’t freeze when they fall. Thankful for the green in the trees, the RVs on summer exploration dotting the highway, my bare legs and feet. Even for my complaining kids in the back with thousands of library books and activity pads that just aren’t enough to delete “I’m bored” from their vocabulary. Because it means we’re on a trip! The mail has been stopped, the fish is at the neighbor’s, the plants are being tended to by someone other than me. The freedom of a summer road trip is upon us, and winter feels a million miles away.
But apparently it’s not.
There isn’t much to do with that bit of information except pull a Nixon: deny, deny, deny. Not give it one more second of consideration. Kick it out of my brain until the hot August days are wearing on me and cooling temps are welcome again. For now they are not. Being sweaty actually sounds lovely this first day of June. I know I’ll be singing a different tune come September 1st, and I’m fine with my hypocrisy – I’ve made peace with being ridiculous. If I could have a superpower of my own design I would experience a perfect temperature at all times, unaffected by the weather, able to enjoy the snow without numb toes and fingertips and heat indexes without needing more deodorant. I bet someday that will be possible, and I hope I can afford the technology, but until then I guess I’ll simply be hypocritically thankful today. Even for my ridiculously bored children. It seems they’ve made peace with it, too.