It's summertime!

When I was a kid I just loved summertime (as did probably most of you reading this). Summertime meant sleeping in past 7 AM, playing outside 'til well past dark and spending as much time as possible in the pool, especially when we lived in Florida and there was no such thing as a cool day in July. It was also the time of the great family road trip up I95 where we would inevitably get stuck on the Jersey Turnpike at noon with temperatures approaching one billion degrees (okay, maybe a hundred, but it felt like a billion) in the back of a Ford LTD station wagon; out of dad's reach, but also beyond any wisp of the air conditioner. But it was worth the heat, because we were heading to Connecticut to see my Nana and Pop-pop, the mountains and the streams, and the blueberries and apple trees of summer.

As I look back, my favorite memories started each year at the end of May. Oh, I enjoyed school; probably better than most kids my age (I was a bit of a geek you see), but it was during those three magical months that learned about life. I learned how to swim. I learned to play tennis. I went to church camp, soccer camp and Boy Scout camp. And it did not stop as I grew older; the "camps" just got better. In 1976 there was a math, computer and science program at the University of South Florida that opened my eyes to the reality that I was not the only geek in the world. And then, my junior year of high school I was accepted into the greatest summer camp in the universe, the North Carolina Governor's School; eight weeks on a college campus studying advanced choral music, philosophy and girls (the last part was not officially on the curriculum, however, being a former geek, it was a major change for my self esteem). Rounding out my reasons for summer being the greatest season was the summer of 1987, when I met my wife and best friend during summer stock theater.

Now we have three children of our own, and that break between grades has a whole new meaning. For my wife and I, it means no more carting children to school or staying up late helping with three sets of homework (I think we have done more homework over the past 12 years than we ever did in school ourselves). There is time to work on a puzzle all day long or take a hike around the lake. Personal projects take a priority and the only books they read are those they choose for themselves. And, for a few precious months each year, it means we can watch the kids just being kids.

- Ken