mattdaddy.net info that bounces inside my brain that makes sense to me, maybe you.

End of summer

What was it like?  Do you even remember?  Man, I sure as hell don't.  Summer vacation seems like it was so long ago - I'm talking about the 5-10 yr old part of your life where summer lasted FOREVER!!!!!

Now?  Jeez, it's the life of one project, or 6 regular meetings, or 60 commutes to and from work

When I was growing up on Long Island, I was friends with two guys on the block, Matt and Pat.  Matt lived next door, and Pat lived two houses in the other direction.  Pat moved in when I was 3, Matt when I was 4.  So needless to say, I knew these guys for a long time.  Luckily, they both had summer houses, and invited me out for weeks at a time summer after summer.  I remember fishing, water skiing, and rock diving at Pat's lake house in southern New Hampshire for almost three weeks every summer.  Going from fish are cool, to girls are cool all in the span of a few years.  There's a song by Yes called 'Roundabout' that has "In and around the Lake" that always takes me back to that dock by the lake.

then I'd come home for a week at the cabana we owned at the beach, and I'd leave for my friend Matt's house in Montauk, Long Island.  Swapping the lake for the ocean, rocks and dirt for sand, I learned how to actually enjoy seafood, went clamming, learned the ins and outs of surfing with boogeyboards, growing my hair long, Vans - mine were black and white checkerboard thanks very much, and flirting unsuccessfully with girls.  I also had my first kiss with his next door neighbor Ellen - she was from Maspeth, Queens - got caught sneaking into their camper, grounded, and just getting the deep mahogany brown tan I got every summer.

Now how do I give that to my kids?  By hopefully doing things with them and taking them places to make memories that will last until they are almost 40, dictating their lives to whatever form of media is available at that point in their lives:)

So what do you most remember about summer?