Holy crabcakes, what is up with the weather this summer? I gotta say, I would give anything for a few days of insufferably searing sunshine that makes me sweat standing still and sleep on a clammy bedsheet. Right, and then stand back and watch me whine here about how stinkin’ hot it is… we are such an interesting species.
I remember summers as a kid and the two weeks of vacation my Dad would get off from work and the subsequent ‘road trip’ that would ensue. Usually it would involve the trailer, LOTS of fishing and some endless back road full of pot holes and unmarked ‘camping’ trails. ‘Points of Interest’ and soft serve were the stuff of every summer holiday. The photos never quite captured the best moments. The first time I saw a moose (seriously only 15 feet away from me), ‘skiing’ down a real GLACIER, tasting a snail for the first time and target practice with an actual firearm.
Nowadays parents take their kids to the Great Wall of China and Machu Pichu and forest treks through the Amazon…talk about upping the ante. Never mind mosquito bites and poison ivy, now you have to prepare with Hep A shots and register your dental records with Interpol.
I believe we have a visceral need to experience ‘firsts’ with our kids. We want to be the ones to introduce something they have never seen before. Watch their faces for the reaction and revel in the wonderment. It used to be easy; pureed peas, ice cream cones, going door to door on your first trick or treat. In recent years our children can Google anything that interests them and watch some kid’s You Tube video of the sun rising over the Himalayas while they breathe canned oxygen. Or we can watch other parents sky-diving with infants or wrestling alligators on their very own TV show.
Keeping Up With the Joneses has gone global!
So many life experiences I would never even have considered and they are all a two week vacay away. What’s on your Bucket List?