This was, perhaps, the best summer of my life.
I am not sure if I have ever accomplished as much in seven weeks…both literally and figuratively speaking.
So, in celebration of my last weekday of FREEDOM before school officially begins again...
A quick run-down of key events and lessons learned may be in order.
Sometimes reflection inspires gratitude, and that is how I am feeling today.
Thankful.
Blessed.
The first day after school let out, I went on a side-splitting wine tour.
Two days later, I drove to the beach to spend time with an ancient college friend.
It was here that I realized sentimentality had been skewing my reasoning.
Warping it, actually.
And, I bolted out of there, trying not to screech my tires and send smoke flying into the air, before the vacation had even launched.
I cut all ties with this person.
Cold turkey.
Lesson learned, you can never really have someone figured out.
And, you can’t force someone to be what you want them to be.
Felt sad for a few days.
My feelings were hurt.
Drowned my sorrows at a festival most certainly inspired by Samuel Adams.
Got over it.
Made the yearly summer hike to the Haystacks with another good friend.
Was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected, innocent rendezvous at Hunter’s Lake.
Bought a kayak, guided by the sage advice of a new friend…who really just turned out to be an old friend in disguise.
Oh, what the heck?
Since I was on a shopping spree, I figured I might as well buy a house too!
Which just happened to be located in a remote spot that some of my friends sneeringly refered to as “the middle of nowhere.”
Some were so brazen as to announce to me that they "could NEVER live there."
Their loss.
I don't have to see my neighbors.
Immersion into nature is what I found so endearing about my new home, but I started to wonder if I made the right decision…
Was I a tree hugger?
A hippie?
Continued doubting self for awhile.
Used my pet turtles as shrinks.
Scrounged up some gumption.
Bit the bullet.
Moved into house.
Started a summer-long journey on overcoming years of built-up fears and resentments.
Realized I didn’t have too much time to dwell on these things.
Immediately immersed myself (and my poor family) in stripping wallpaper.
I totally underestimated the gravity of this task…
Stripping walls was followed by spackling walls, then sanding walls, next, priming walls,
Ouch… craning neck while painting ceilings
Followed by taping ceilings, painting walls, painting walls again, taping walls, painting woodwork…and I thought I would have the entire house done in a week.
Man, I completely missed the mark on that one.
Next, it was onto power washing the patio and scraping…prying off, really, more than a decade worth of moss, dirt, and worm casings.
Was I in over my head?
Wished I had the luxury of chewing my cud, like a cow, to make it easier to swallow.
I discovered this task (the patio restoration) made me feel like Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” following the yellow brick road.
While slightly harder than clicking my ruby slippers three times, the unexpected treasure that I literally unearthed at the end of the path...the red brick veranda behind my new home...made all the sweating, straining, and maybe even swearing, worth it.
Started to think mud (and paint) were a normal part of my wardrobe.
Lost a few pounds.
Shedding the weight was metaphoric to me.
I viewed it as trimming a lot of excess out of my life.
New philosophy: simplicity.
Took a day off from working on the house, and spent an afternoon at World’s End with an “oldie, but goody friend.”
Had a picnic lunch.
Built sandcastles and carved riverbeds with a toddler.
This was the first time I swam in the Loyalsock and the water actually felt warm.
Weird.
Such a hot, dry summer.
Just the way I like it.
Star-gazed while lying on my back in the bed of a truck.
Revealed my ignorance in learning that you can observe satellites orbiting our planet in the night sky…
Discovered they are much more fun to search for than a shooting star, which is really just a burning meteor…not a star at all.
Dave Matthews started singing inside my head.
Providing an insightful soundtrack to the movie of my summer.
Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping tom for the mother station
Winter's cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite
Because of this night,
I almost slipped and fell back into my old ways.
Of feeling that I needed someone to complete me.
Thank goodness several friends were looking out for me.
Even...no, especially, the one that tripped me up.
Hosted a BBQ.
Ate leftovers for weeks.
Got kidnapped in the middle of the night.
Tried to convince myself it was an adventure.
But, truthfully I was scared for my life.
Survived.
Learned to lock doors.
Got to know my parents and other family members again.
Mom, I hope I was able to convey my love, thanks, and respect for you.
Spent several hours sitting.
In the Southern-style white rocking chairs on my front porch.
Having all kinds of liberating conversations with all kinds of incredible people.
Tried to be a good listener.
Attempted to spread optimism like good karma.
Started to feel good, getting reacquainted with what is important in life.
Made some more new friends, polished some old ones,
Just like the Girl Scout song, “One is silver and the other gold.”
Stopped taking myself so seriously.
Fell into a part-time job, moonlighting at a local restaurant.
Remembered how much I loved waitressing.
Served delicious food, talked to random people, smiled, and garnered lots of good exercise running around.
Speaking of exercise, ran four 5k’s with some great ladies:
My sweat club.
Intend to round it out with a full five by mid-September.
This was how I discovered the most gorgeous nature trail around, what I believe to be, one of the most beautiful lakes in Pennsylvania, Lake Mokoma.
“A very special place,” as described in the words of one friend.
I adore this landform even though I can’t afford the membership.
Taught summer school for three weeks.
Solved problems containing fractions, decimals, variables, and exponents.
Found the area of irregular shapes.
Read “My Side of the Mountain,” a spectacular wilderness story. No wonder it’s a Newberry award winner. Quality literature.
Guided kids in writing short stories using Chris Van Allsburg’s intriguing illustrations as a springboard.
Went to the best wedding EVER!!
Danced my tush off.
And, even though it was WAY outside my comfort zone, I loved EVERY minute of it!
Except the minute when I fell backwards into the DJ's speakers.
Funny how that happened.
Had a magnificent lunch the next day with an invigorating new friend.
Apparently he didn't judge me for my precarious tumble the evening before.
Nor, did I judge him for the waterfall that was accidentally released down the front of his tuxedo.
These follies are to be expected at weddings.
Mulligans.
Our dialogue was natural.
I was worried it wouldn't be.
Still holding onto that memory.
Tore out carpet from almost every single room in the house.
Felt so good to destroy something.
Unloaded 28, 80 lb. boxes of real oak flooring…all by myself, into the garage.
Just to move it all again, a few days later, at 6 am, with the help of my amazing aunt…into the living room.
Why?
Because, I learned hardwood needs several days to acclimate to the environment of the rooms it is to be installed in.
Who would have thought? Not me.
Thanks for knowing these things, Dad.
What would I do without you?
I wouldn't be remodeling this house, that's for sure.
Procrastinated on a writing course…
Justified this with the clichéd adage, “I work better under pressure.”
Ha!! I really did some of my best work under pressure this time.
Pulled an all-nighter.
Started a blog as a result.
And, here I am…
Reminiscing on the summer, experimenting with a variety of voices, and maybe stumbling upon my own true self again.
Whew!
I thought I lost myself, for awhile there.
It's good to be out of the "lost" box and finally "found."
This isn’t an ending.
It’s just the beginning.
Time to head outside and enjoy this glorious Sullivan County day!
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