When it comes to seasons, they’re all pretty great. Playing late afternoon soccer against Autumn’s backdrop of perpetual sunset colors is classy, no doubt; on the other side of the rotation, Spring is that more-than-welcome breath of fresh air and green life; and almost anyone could make a case for Winter’s carefully planned snow-and-ice ambushes, and then for the ensuing snowball battles, for fireside reading, cold fingers, warm drinks, and holiday cheer. But let’s be honest. When the sun comes knocking early and parties until late, when it’s never a bad time to be outside, and when, for a few glorious months, you get to do basically whatever you want, Summer, my friends, rules them all.
For the first part of my summer (May until mid-June) I opted to spend some quality time in St. Louis, MO (woo woo!) with my family. We celebrated my older brother’s graduation, did lots of yard work, took evening walks around our neighborhood with our dog Samantha, and spent hours talking after dinner. That’s one thing about my family that I love—we never just have dinner, but rather have dinner and then talk for hours sometimes, sitting around the table and laughing while we tell stories or while my dad gripes about me being vegetarian. (He’s practically a carnivore and a bona fide grill master, so the family joke is that I pretty much betrayed him when I decided to adopt a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.) (He’ll get over it.)
The summer in St. Louis is really fantastic because there’s always so much to do in and around the city. Like a lot of college students, I took a summer course at a community college (4 weeks, microbiology) to save some money while I was home. But I hardly let that dominate my summer; I did tons of great things in my first five weeks! For Example…
St. Louis’ Forest Park (which is a larger and more beautiful version of NY’s Central Park) is home to many of my favorite places, like the art museum and the great basin (every high school prom-goer has a photo there), as well as the courts where I play handball with my grandfather three times a week (he beats me every time).
It’s also home to the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival that my girlfriend, Katie, and I attend every summer—this summer was Merry Wives of Windsor––and we were two of many who came out to enjoy the free outdoor festival. We gave it two thumbs up!
In an excursion toward the east, Katie and I went to Pittsburgh to visit family and were lucky enough to visit Falling Waters, perhaps the most famous Frank Lloyd Wright house in the U.S.
Finally, my best friend, Mushnik, and I decided one morning to go on a bike trip. “Where to?” I asked. “How about west?” “Let’s roll.” We threw some provisions on my BOB trailer and hit the road, winding through vineyard and farm country—and got poured on a few times—as is only too appropriate for a summer bike adventure.
I’ll write again soon, and I think I’ll run with the “Totally Summer” title. Rock on!
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