Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I hope you enjoyed yourselves! For all those like me who are paying attention, this means that summer is half over! This may make you sad. Perhaps you want summer to be longer. Or maybe like me, you’re wishing that instead of it being the Fourth of July it was Labor Day. Labor Day is for most people the official end of summer. For me, it also means that the first week of is over with, as well. This sounds wonderful to me. I want summer to be over. This past month and a half wasn’t what it used to be, and nothing reminds me more of this fact than the Fourth of July.
When I was little, the Fourth of July was a glorious holiday. We had a barbecue with my parents’ college friends and their kids. We set off bottle rockets, sparklers and other fireworks we could legally set off. And the grand finale to the Fourth of July? Staying up late to watch the fireworks show. I still vaguely remember the fireworks shows from my preschool years. We used to watch them explode from across a lake up in my early childhood home of Bemidji. (How much more Minnesotan could we have been?) I enjoyed watching the colors in amazement and being curious about where it all comes from. Fireworks always seemed to me to be the epitome of summer.
Now, though, all those things that seemed wondrous as a kid seem banal. I won’t be setting off fireworks in my yard. I won’t be having a good old fashion American barbecue. Why would I want to? Instead, I’ll be working most of the day. I’ll still see the fireworks show, but it’ll be marred for me by the fact that firework shows aren’t exactly good. We are spending municipal money on something so fleeting and dangerous as fireworks, not to mention the fact that they are toxic. I am no longer curious or impressed by these displays. And I can’t help but feeling that the way I’m spending my Fourth of July this year reveals yet another shift away from childhood.
Summer used to be a time of all fun and no work. It was a time where I could spend my days jumping through sprinklers, going camping or hanging out with friends. Now, though, summer is no longer so easy. For one, I’m working (though that isn’t new summer pastime). For another, I miss college. I miss living across the hall from my friends. I even miss classes (to an extent). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still done fun things this summer, but then boredom or work soon follows. And that’s the heart of it. Without school I’m bored which was nice for the first month and a half, but now I just want things to pick up again.
In other words, I want summer to end now. Unfortunately, I won’t get my wish, but at least I’ll make a bit more money while I wait. I may get to even have a few more adventures, too. As long as I don’t think too hard about the end of childhood and the era of summers free from responsibilities, I will be fine. Because at least their end came with the desire to be somewhere else that isn’t a fireworks show.
