Summer Solstice
Well now, happy summer solstice to you all out there. Hope your weekend was even a quarter as good as ours turned out to be. In fact even if yours was just about an eighth as good as ours was I’d still wish it on you. That’s what a nice time we had.
My sister-in-law’s family has a place up near Arlington and most years around the solstice they play host to a party of family and friends and let all of us stay up late and camp out under the stars. They live on some leased forestry land that has just the right amount of old trees and clearing.
We try to go up every year and bring instruments and beer, spending the evening around the campfire trying to remember any song we know more than the first line to. It’s a fun cast of characters, some of whom we only see once a year at this party. The party goes well into the night and if you bring your kids, rises early in the morning as well.
We set out close to noon on Saturday, packing what seemed like a weeks worth of stuff for our one-day journey into the woods. This was really the first time I realized that one day or one week comes out to about the same amount of stuff. Once you get all the basics packed, the tent, the sleeping bags, cooler, pillows, the rest is just fluff. Doesn’t really take any more room if you pack four shirts or one. It seems like I packed for three hours straight. I didn’t think we were ever gonna make down our driveway.
The older boy was about as excited as I’ve ever seen him. I thought he was gonna burst out of his car seat and explode all over the ceiling of the minivan. Fortunately for us, he has not learned the stock phrase, “are we there yet” cause if he had, he would’ve used it for the entire two-hour trip. Instead, his mind was racing a million miles an hour and we were stuck in a sort of free association improv where he says something like, “Mommy? What metabies have a fire attack?” and “Daddy, Levi says that earwigs craw into your ears and kill you” back to back, and you’re left trying to keep yourself from having your own thoughts because they only get in the way of his next question. I imagine being pinned down on Omaha beach by a German free association machinegun would have a similar feel. I can only thank god he doesn’t speak a foreign language.
Late that night after the older boy couldn’t hardly keep his eyes open anymore, I laid down next to him to help him get fall asleep. “Today was the best day ever.” He says and I find it hard to dispute.
The boys sleep and Sweetie turns in early as well. It’s been a long day, hell a long year for us all, but it’s too nice a day for me to let it go that easy. My brother and I get out our guitars and there with all our friends play every song we know the words to. Hell, every song we know half the words to. Singing late into the night underneath an almost full moon, underneath old Cedar branches and blackberry bramble, perched on our chairs around the fire pit making up words to Brown Eyed Girl and Wild Horses.
The older boy slept the entire way home. Two hours strait and didn’t even miss his bedtime. Days like that make your life feel normal. Like all the plans you made in your head never did get sidetracked and all the gifts that you’d thought you’d receive are right there at your fingertips. Like you just stretched out your arms and grabed a handful of stars.
My sister-in-law’s family has a place up near Arlington and most years around the solstice they play host to a party of family and friends and let all of us stay up late and camp out under the stars. They live on some leased forestry land that has just the right amount of old trees and clearing.
We try to go up every year and bring instruments and beer, spending the evening around the campfire trying to remember any song we know more than the first line to. It’s a fun cast of characters, some of whom we only see once a year at this party. The party goes well into the night and if you bring your kids, rises early in the morning as well.
We set out close to noon on Saturday, packing what seemed like a weeks worth of stuff for our one-day journey into the woods. This was really the first time I realized that one day or one week comes out to about the same amount of stuff. Once you get all the basics packed, the tent, the sleeping bags, cooler, pillows, the rest is just fluff. Doesn’t really take any more room if you pack four shirts or one. It seems like I packed for three hours straight. I didn’t think we were ever gonna make down our driveway.
The older boy was about as excited as I’ve ever seen him. I thought he was gonna burst out of his car seat and explode all over the ceiling of the minivan. Fortunately for us, he has not learned the stock phrase, “are we there yet” cause if he had, he would’ve used it for the entire two-hour trip. Instead, his mind was racing a million miles an hour and we were stuck in a sort of free association improv where he says something like, “Mommy? What metabies have a fire attack?” and “Daddy, Levi says that earwigs craw into your ears and kill you” back to back, and you’re left trying to keep yourself from having your own thoughts because they only get in the way of his next question. I imagine being pinned down on Omaha beach by a German free association machinegun would have a similar feel. I can only thank god he doesn’t speak a foreign language.
Late that night after the older boy couldn’t hardly keep his eyes open anymore, I laid down next to him to help him get fall asleep. “Today was the best day ever.” He says and I find it hard to dispute.
The boys sleep and Sweetie turns in early as well. It’s been a long day, hell a long year for us all, but it’s too nice a day for me to let it go that easy. My brother and I get out our guitars and there with all our friends play every song we know the words to. Hell, every song we know half the words to. Singing late into the night underneath an almost full moon, underneath old Cedar branches and blackberry bramble, perched on our chairs around the fire pit making up words to Brown Eyed Girl and Wild Horses.
The older boy slept the entire way home. Two hours strait and didn’t even miss his bedtime. Days like that make your life feel normal. Like all the plans you made in your head never did get sidetracked and all the gifts that you’d thought you’d receive are right there at your fingertips. Like you just stretched out your arms and grabed a handful of stars.
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