We Believe in Summer’s Magic
We believe in summer’s magic.
Spring has always spurred us into new adventures, but summer makes us bloom.
I grew up around the nurturing strength of summer babies. Cancerian energy, in particular, has followed me all my life. Those are the relationships that created a solid foundation for my identity.
You know them. They have the cool out-of-school birthday parties. The pool parties. The porch sleepovers. The camping fun. Trips to water parks. Their birthdays are often marked by bursts of fireworks, the blast of a lifeguard’s whistle, the tootling melody of the ice cream truck, the endurance of long road trips, and the glow of lightning bugs.
What a wonderful time to celebrate a “First Day on Earth” Day. Summer babies were born into a bold season and I think it makes them more unwavering than the rest of us. The ones I know have a natural warmth about them; they’re steadfast.
Because you know what? Like summer babies and their summer birthdays, some things about summer never really change — and that’s summer’s magic.
This past week, we went to the public pool to entertain our little guy in the late afternoon. He did a lot of wading around (and face-planting) in the zero-depth area, and the experience was a time warp. Aside from modern architecture and swim gear styles, it could’ve been 1958 or 1978 or 1998 or 2018.
We saw a game of Marco Polo, witnessed teenage girls attempting synchronized swimming, took a few splashes to the face from middle school boys who had no regard for anyone else, noticed two best girlfriends wearing matching bikinis, felt sorry for the lifeguards looking as annoyed as they were suntanned, overheard multiple grade-school cliques running their own version of “Let’s be MERMAIDS!” and judged the performances of some tween girls voguing off the diving board.
The only thing missing was an awkward kid canon-balling off the high dive (which probably would have happened if it hadn’t been taped off due to maintenance).
Summer doesn’t change. Why? Because our relationship to the elements doesn’t change. Summer gets hot, so we find ways to get cool, and the best way to do this is water.
…remember that Cancerian energy? The summer babies I’m closest to bear a water sign. Cancers are nurturers and water is the nurturing element of summer.
Both of us grew up in families that made a point to carry on summer legacies by the water; mine down the shore and his out on the lake. Though we have traveled many other wonderful — and more glamorous — places, the memories in those weeks by the water possess an enchantment only found in the land that gave us our first adventures.
In fact, summer is the backdrop for the main milestones in our relationship.
We fell in love in summer. I never would have thought that I’d get married in the most traditional wedding month of the northern hemisphere — but that’s when we fell in love so it just felt right.
After our first date in May, we spent our first summer together driving his ’89 Toyota Camry back and forth every Thursday to run errands in Kansas City. It was hot — maybe the AC was faulty. (It certainly was in my Jeep). I made a mix CD I named “Summer Thursday” that we played on those trips; it was a compilation of songs we both liked.
That mix CD was our first compromise. Initially, we didn’t like each other’s taste in music…or movies…or even food, for that matter. He wanted to watch Saw 4. I wanted to belt out Britney Spears. He ate only new things. I ordered the same thing at every restaurant.
That summer and that mix CD set us on a mission to expand each other’s horizons.
A dozen years later, we fell in love all over again when we brought our son home from the NICU in the summer. Now, this summer, he’s getting to really delight in the season. We look forward to the blessing of many summers ahead of us where he learns to play Marco Polo, chases the ice cream truck, sees the ocean for the first time, writes his name with a sparkler, asks “Are we there yet?!” and gets determined enough to jump off the high dive.
Yes, we believe in summer’s magic. For us, summer is the season of love and adventure.
