The Magic Of Summer Days
The dog days of summer are long days and short nights. It was a time when boredom took its toll, but curiosity and creativity ran free. Free of screens and technology, the world felt alive; its colors shone bright. My siblings and I spent endless hours in our backyard building forts from broken tree branches, catching snakes and frogs nesting in the garden, eating ice cream and freshly picked veggies. Looking back on those days is like having dreams so good you wish to be consumed by them. I have countless memories of myself growing up and exploring the world with freedom, but only few memories match the vividness of this particular one.
The warmth filled my room and woke my resting mind. The songs of birds chirping and crickets humming was a familiar tune that never failed to fuel my day. The day was young, and my stomach rumbled to the tunes of the birds. I leapt out of bed, ran up stairs, threw some blueberry Eggos into the toaster, lathered them in peanut butter and jelly, and then woke my sleeping siblings. I couldn’t let such a day go to waste with sleep. After patiently waiting for my siblings' slow morning practices, we were ready to tackle the day.
Stepping out into my sun-drenched backyard, I felt the warmth of the grass beneath my feet and heard the laughter of my siblings. My eyes scanned the garden, taking in the vibrant purple blooms of our lavender plants and the fluttering of small skippers flitting from flower to flower. With so much going on and so many things to do, my mind became flustered. We chased the skippers for hours, capturing just a few until the sun reached its zenith. The heat penetrated through our layers of sunscreen. We retreated to the coolness of the sprinkler; its mist creating a magical rainbow. The world slowed down as we ran without a care in the cool grass.
As the hours marched by, I came up with the idea to build a hot tub heated by the sun. I scavenged through the shed looking for a tub big enough to fit my idea. I had no luck until I spotted the stack of metal containers tucked away in the back. They were perfect. The day couldn’t get much better; I could hear my siblings' joyful giggles as they bolted through the sprinkler, and the playful bark coming from my dog whose fascination over the sprinkler never ended. When I ran back to the yard, I didn’t want to ruin the moment by taking the hose, so I watched from the deck with joy, letting the image engrave itself into the back of my mind. Right as I was about to turn off the hose, the voice of my mother from the balcony above sang a sweet tune “lunch is served,” she hollered. Minutes later, she was on the deck with arms full of golden brown grilled cheese oozing melted goodness from all sides and a box full of my favorite chocolate drumsticks. With a full belly, I was determined to put my idea into action. I grabbed the hose and filled up the three big tubs. I suggested we take a break while we let the tubs warm up. But the day was fading away, and our energy was running low. After being dried from the scorching heat and not wanting to get wet, we called it quits. So we sat on our deck watching the bats flutter amongst the starry sky, catching their dinner with small squeaks. Knowing the tubs would be awaiting us the following day.