Remembering the excitement of summer coming as a kid
I miss the anticipation of each day and what it might bring
Tim Wilson
No matter how old I get, June brings the excitement of a kid anticipating the end of school. The memory and feeling of the freedom that came with the start of summer never fade.
It was something you literally felt – and feel – in New England. June brought warm weather that promised not to be a fleeting spell.
Those last days of school in June were killers. All I could do was stare out the window and think about what I’d rather be doing outside. I was a kid who liked school, but nothing matched just hanging out down the park with friends, playing games, playing ball or simply soaking up the sun. And did I mention going to the beach?
Was there anything better than hearing a radio DJ play Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” the same day you walked out of the building for the last time? “No more pencils, no more books. No more teachers’ dirty looks.” Yee ha!
I can remember as I became an adult hearing people talk about their favorite season, going on about the fall colors and football, Christmas and skiing, or spring flowers and the return of baseball. That stuff is all nice and has an appeal but is there any real competition for summer?
Why do you think the Beach Boys titled their album “Endless Summer”? If they or anyone else released an endless fall, winter or spring LP I missed it.
The beauty of summer as a kid is that it seemed to last so long. I never thought of it in terms of days or week. On the calendar summer vacation was only about 10 weeks but when school ended you couldn’t envision what was beyond the season you were about to savor. And you didn’t want to.
Now I spend way too much time looking at the calendar, scheduling and planning. Summer still carries with it the excitement I experienced as a kid, but I miss the anticipation of each day and what it might bring.
About the author: Tim Wilson is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts. He is passionate about his family, Marquette University, bicycling and all Boston sports.