When was the last time you had a proper summer break? Really think about this: when was the last time you had a months long, guilt-free, leisurely-sinking-into-a-pond-somewhere-like-a-little-frog-who-doesn't-know-what taxes-are type of summer? Was it somewhere around the 7th grade? Right before summer reading assignments and college testing prep classes and internships and the acronym PTO sucked all the oxygen out of the season?
Back then summer felt like its own year: a luxurious, endless amount of free time to be spent at the community pool or watching Golden Girls marathons next to the air conditioning. Now a month, an entire season, passes by in a flash without me so much as glancing up from my computer screen. Respectfully—what happened?
I have a theory that the answers to most problems lie in the simplest of solutions. If we want to reclaim our froggy brained summer, there's only one thing to do: have a summer.
Having a summer means enjoying the season for what it is, in all its chaotic, leisurely, and unpredictable moments. It means giving yourself permission to do nothing but chill exactly the way you want to. Leaving the house for an iced coffee and finding a place to lie down for 45 minutes. One can only disassociate in front of the AC unit for so long before we start to lose it. Telling yourself "You know what, I think I'm going to go to the skate park after work and practice like I used to." And when someone asks why, responding, "Because I feel like it." Honestly, most of your summer decisions should end with because I feel like it.
So let's head down to Paine's Park, a recommended spot along the banks of the Schuylkill and right behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Text your friends to bring their rollerblades, it's cool. Don't leave until you can do an ollie. Grab an ice cream on the way back. Blast the Barbie soundtrack all the way home. Do something else tomorrow. Do something different every day.
Have a summer.
That's all for now folks!
Catch you on the flip side :)
Shot at Paine's Park one early late-May morning
Located on the Schuylkill River Banks, by the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Skate Philly!