Editorial
Front Page - Friday, June 04, 2010
View from the Cheap Seats
Summer blues?
William O. “Bill” James, Jr.
It happens to me every year at this time. I begin trying to remember the feeling of summer when I was young. This year, just as in the past, I reminded Trevor to take note of the feeling of the complete freedom he feels right now. He looked up at me like I was the village idiot and went back to playing his video game.
The real notable part of this particular conversation is that it occurred at 6:30 a.m. Just 24 hours earlier I had trouble getting him out of bed at 7:00 a.m. The only difference being that now he was on Summer Break and he did not have to be up.
I look fondly at the summers of getting up early with absolutely nothing to do. That time when you often spent the night at a friend’s house or vise versa. It seemed like I slept more on the floor than I did in a bed some summers. There is also something special about sleeping up to the time the “Price is Right” is on and then eating a box of cereal before starting on the day’s adventures.
In the early years, the beginning of Summer still had baseball games that provided a little structure to your daily routine. I remember going to the Bentonville Pool on the day of a game and making a big deal about how you were not supposed to go swimming the day of a game.
Ironically, we usually rode our bikes to the pool and ran around all day in a manner that is completely opposite to what one would expect to see from a person trying to conserve their energy. In those days, the only folks that played baseball all summer were the All-Stars, and I did not play on that level. That meant that by Memorial Day, I was pretty much unencumbered by any further responsibilities.
Work replaced baseball as the structure of summer after I started driving. I liked working. I did not really know it at the time; but with all of my friends working at the same restaurant, it was more of a hang out than a place of employment. If I wasn’t working, then I would be at work hanging out. After all, it was usually where my friends were at. Besides, there was food there.
What is better than Summer Nights during the summer? Most nights, my friends and I did not get off work until 10:30 p.m. That meant that the night did not get started until 11. The only thing open at that time of the night was King Pizza. I spent most of my paycheck at that location - one quarter at a time.
Eventually, they would throw us out. When there was nothing else to do, we would go to the lakes in Bella Vista. Sometimes we would swim. Sometimes we would shoot fireworks at each other. Sometimes we just waited for the others to get back from the Missouri State Line. Sometimes, we just went home. It did not happen often, but it did happen.
My two youngest children are in Osceola with Patti’s parents for two weeks. William could not go because he has football. The freedom of his summers is already beginning to restrict. Even at the tender age of 16, he can remember back when all he had to do was sleep. Today, I made him get up and come to the office to answer the phone before he goes to football. He must be wondering where his summers have gone.
This morning, I left for the office at 6:30 a.m. so that I could write this column. The morning was crisp and beautiful. I felt sorry for myself as I drove to work and wondered where had my summers gone? Then I remembered, that officially, I only have to work two days this week since I am going to Tunica tomorrow to play golf at the Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Next week, I will have to work four days.
However, next week is the Arkansas Bar Association meeting in Hot Springs which means three nights at the Arlington. Maybe, I will even sleep on the floor. It certainly would not be the first time I have slept on the floor of the Arlington.
Summer is here and it is going fast. We are a month away from the 4th of July which marks the beginning of the end of summer in my head. Most of us are no longer in the sixth grade like Trevor and need to realize that Summer does end. That is not to focus on the negative, it is only to help focus on the reality that we have to enjoy the time while we have it. That is the best way to view Summer from my perspective way up here in the CHEAP SEATS!
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