That summer feeling

Typical beach shells,
originally uploaded by dougward.

Here's my summer so far:

School ended June fifth.

I said goodbye to my friend Pat on the fourteenth; he's on a road trip and I don't get to see him again until the end of summer. I said goodbye to Rachel the next day; she's in London and I don't get to see her until August.

I was in Topsail, NC from the sixteenth to the twenty-fourth with Ben, Quiggy, Gus, and Evan. That was a very good time. I got some good photos. On the way down we toured Duke University's campus and, while the campus is really beautiful, I don't think it's the right place for me to go.

I then said goodbye to Ben and Gus on the thirtieth; they're in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji and get back in about a week. I was going to go as part of the same program, but then realized that it was probably too demanding on my fragile constitution.

Also next week I go to Stone Harbor for a week with Quiggy, but until then he's in summer school. That will also be a good time, I am sure.

In mid-August I go away for one last week with Gus, then I'm at home for more or less the rest of the summer.

As you can see, a significant portion of my friends are gone for varying amounts of time this summer. Since I'm not in any sort of camp and haven't found any sort of employment opportunity that suits me, it means that most of my days are largely unoccupied. Previous summers, when this happened, I just let the days slide past. This summer is different though.

This is probably going to be the last real summer of my youth; I don't really need to worry about working, or applying to college, or any of that. So this summer I have not only pledged to not let days go by wasted, but I have actually been making good on it. I do whatever I can so that at the end of each day I feel like it was worth it. Whether it's practicing guitar (I started teaching myself last month) or bass, or drawing something, or reading, or whatever, I'm making this summer count.

One last note: Today is the birthday of my one friend who seems to still be around (he was in Florida at the beginning of the summer). Happy birthday, Chris.