Summer Mishaps and Family Traditions

Well, Fourth of July has come and gone.  Looking at another day (several more days, actually) of triple digit temperatures.  I'm trying to keep the veggie garden and some of the flowers watered but I think the grass is toast.  Or is that toasted?

We had a classic summer moment last weekend.  My thirteen year old grandson came home from a week at Scout camp.  A mini-crisis in the family had elected me as the welcome home chauffeur. The bus rolled in (after a 15 hour ride) at 2:00 a.m.  He stumbled off, looking taller than when he left, tanned brown, hair sun bleached and stiff with lake water and lack of shampoo, sunburn peeling across his nose, every inch of exposed skin liberally dotted with bug bites...and no glasses.


Before Camp



I hugged him (he still lets me). I asked if he'd had fun.  He had.  Except for the mosquitoes.  Then I asked, as casually as I could, if his glasses were in his backpack. Um....no.  They were at the bottom of a very large lake in Wisconsin.

The next day, his father (my youngest) posted on Facebook that he was glad to have his son home, even without his glasses and teased him a bit for losing them.  Before I could comment, one of my son's high school friends jumped in with..."I remember you losing yours at Kings Island...  It was the chute from the water ride that knocked them off..."  

I could write a book on the creative ways my sons found to lose or destroy their glasses (and contacts) over the years.  The ladies at the optical store knew my voice so well, all I had to say was "Hi" and they asked, "Which one?" and placed the order for  a new pair.

Nice to know some things never change.

Something else that never changes - foot in mouth.  I was at my local writer's group meeting last night and we were discussing our public reading coming up in August.  Got the date and location, just needed a theme. For some unknown reason, I piped up, "long, hot summer".  Maybe I was thinking of one of my favorite classic movies. There were a few off-color interpretations then the idea was accepted.  So now I have to write a short piece of some kind (under ten minutes) to read next month related to a long, hot summer.  I have zero ideas.  Contrary to what I said above, I don't think a litany of my sons' eyeglasses mishaps would work.  Anyone have a bright idea for me?  Beyond keeping my mouth shut next time?

Okay, that's it for the Friday rambling.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  Stay cool and be safe.

Quotes for Today:  (on revision)

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile." Robert Cormier

"The difference between the right and the nearly right word is the same as that between lightning and the lightning bug." Mark Twain

"The wastebasket is the writer's best friend." Isaac Singer