When I was 12 years old I wanted to spend every waking minute of the summer in the basement playing Goldeneye. Sure I had a pool and it was 90 degrees out but when you grew up with one, swimming alone wasn't that great. And if you had a brother 3 years younger than you he was a huge loser (nothing was worse than hanging out with your 9 year old brother) so alas I would wake up at 8 am (why my parents would make me wake up before they went to work instead of letting me sleep until noon, I'll never know) and go down to the basement and try to beat The Facility on Double Agent in under 8 minutes so I could unlock "the golden gun." This would happen until my dad would come home from work at 4 who would be equal parts furious that I wasn't ready for baseball practice and that I had sat in the basement all day playing video games.
See back then I just didn't fucking get it. Billy Keller Basketball camp, Steve Alford basketball camp, All Star baseball, church, even when my neighborhood homies would ring my door bell to see if I wanted to play some kick the can or 3 on 3 hoops. I was just so annoyed. All of these things were just unwanted distractions prying me from my Nintendo 64.
Now when I look back on my childhood summers I think about my all star baseball team terrorizing hotel hallways in Minneapolis with knee hockey tournaments, riding roller coasters at Worlds of Fun 10 times in a row before getting kicked off, taking road trips to St. Louis to see the Cards, going to water parks...not the time I used the hook shot to find the hidden water amulet in Ocarina of Time.
Back then I didn't really give a shit about the fact that the sun would stay up until 9pm, or that I could wear shorts every day and play capture the flag until 11pm while all the parents slowly got hammered listening to Jimmy Buffet, I was just glad I didn't have to go to school in the morning.
When you get older there is no summer break, just times you go stir crazy in an office with the beautiful weather beyond the window tantalizing you. I completely understand my dad's anger now. If I came home and found out that someone was free to enjoy the beauty of summer all day and chose to rot away in a basement playing video games I would likely go on a murderous rampage.
I'm spoiled here in southern California where every day is summer and I only work about 3 weeks a month. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and remember that it's a gorgeous day out and I should go enjoy it, not spend hours mainlining coffee beans and writing screenplays that will never be read. Go for a jog, read a book on the beach, ride down to the south bay, go fly a fucking kite. All of these are better options than sitting on the couch, watching tv.
But the biggest game changer, the reason I think I finally saw the light on this issue is alcohol. I still don't know how to occupy my time on a beautiful day on Saturday, but I do know that if you step outside and crack a few cold ones, things seem to brighten up just a bit. Everything I do this summer, beach volleyball, surfing, rollerblading down the beach in my turquoise 3 inch inseam swim trunks...all of this will be better with a bit of sauce. And I think that's what is so great about summer. Even though it's just another 25% of the calendar year, people feel free to let their metaphorical hair down.
People that would have otherwise stayed in on a Wednesday or Thursday are totally down to go on a beach bike ride down to the Santa Monica pier and black out to a free concert because...summer.
Dinner plans turn into happy hours, a beer on the beach turns into day long darties that leave you too exhausted come 9pm to make it out for the night. But who cares, once the sun goes down there's no reason to be outside anymore.
Summer isn't so much a time of the year as it is a state of mind. It is the universal excuse, it can be a universal motivator. I hope that this weekend, this year, the rest of your life you find yourself inclined to do something a bit out of your character because life is short and tomorrow might not be 82 and sunny with 5 foot breaks. Because...summer.
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