Echos of Summers Past

This is the time of year that I become somewhat melancholy. The summer is beginning to wind down, and I am on the threshold of starting a new school year. It is almost as if I am straddling a high brick wall, hoping I don't fall off. On the left side of the wall, I am very excited about going back to school, establishing a new schedule/routine, meeting new eager faces, and all of the challenges that the job brings. The right side represents the lazy days of summer with, vacations, lounging by the pool, afternoon naps (which would def. have to be one of my favs.), and the ability to just "be". Ultimately, I use this time to refresh my mind, body, and soul. Also, the summer is my time to spend with my kids and reconnect with them.
So now I stand before the door that will open with full force tomorrow, leading me into a new school year. My thoughts drift to the wonderful memories that I have made this summer and the times that I have shared with family and friends. It makes me think of all of the summers past and how wonderful the times were then. Those were the summers that responsibility was minimal and fun was optimal! One particular summer was the summer when I turned 16. At the time, my mother was on a "let's go camping" kick. We had started this a few years before by camping out in a tent. Fortunately, we had graduated to a pop-up camper. After dealing with the deflating mattresses, leaking tents, and washed out campsites, I welcomed the new addition. As a result, my mother made reservations at a campsite in the Great Smoky Mtns. called "Smokemont" It was a clean, woodsy, and had tons of hiking trails. Of course, we always had to set up the tent, even though none of us wanted to sleep in it any longer. That summer we brought tire tubes with us and old tennis shoes so that we could go tubing down the creek that ran through the site. I had never been schooled in this recreational sport, so I jumped into the creek, hopped onto the tube and started floating. It was ice cold...even in July! As I floated down the creek, the currents began to pick up and move at a faster pace. Intuition made me grab the sides of the tube and hold fast. Eventually, we made it to the entrance of the campsite which had to be at least a mile away from where we started. By this time the little, meandering, creek had turned into what I remember as a rapid! The next thing I recall was a drop the size of Niagara Falls. As my tube plunged down the steep watery slope, I lost my footing on the tube and my body was thrust into the ice cold water. When I finally surfaced, I realized that I had lost something very vital to my existence at the time....my glasses! Scrambling around, we all searched the waters with great speed. I just knew I was toast! Fortunately, my younger brother retrieved them and all was right with the world. That day when I was slowing making the climb back to our campsite, I contemplated whether or not I would ever do that again. How could I not? When I think back to that time, it reminds me of how I am facing the new challenges of this coming year. Yes, I am apprehensive, but I am willing to take the challenge because I enjoy doing it.
The summers that have past linger in my mind as reminders of what a beautiful time we can have discovering who we are and what makes us the person we have become.
I hope to use this past summer as just that....