Thursday, May 7, 2009

Endless Summer


Growing up, I was happiest during the summer. No school. Long days. Warm weather. Sun shining. Life couldn’t get any better than it was in the summer.

Growing up in New England, I relished the summer. Summer was my reward after enduring a harsh winter each year. I used to dream of going to California. I’d never been there, but I knew what I’d seen on television and there was never a shortage of sunshine or warmth in California.

I remember working 10-hour days in Connecticut. Two seasons a year for five years, I rarely saw the light of day because the sun had come and gone while I was tucked neatly inside my cubicle, far away from any window. Bleak days, they were. No one should have to endure a day without sunshine.

Fast forward nearly a decade.

I’m in San Diego. I wake up [almost] daily to the sun shining down upon me. The only cold season is the occasional chilly or windy day sprinkled here and there between all the sunny, seasonable days. (I’ll admit there are days when you’ll find me hiding in the shadow of a building just to get a moment of relief from the sun.) I work only as needed to survive. Never a 10-hour day (unless the weather is not to my liking).

I’m on permanent summer vacation.

Some people aspire to be doctors, lawyers, business people, millionaires, what-have-yous. For a while, I wasn’t sure what I aspired to do. This morning it occurred to me. I aspire to spend my life on summer vacation. So that’s what I do.

Always in search of the
Endless Summer.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Samantha - I wish the chihuaua's were mine - that was Kalima and Makua. They belong to my friend April (from High School-so fun) I'm her dog sitter/house sitter when she goes out of town. I love her dogs ooooo so much they are too cute, fun and little.

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  2. I think success should always be defined as aspiring to do what makes us happy. =)

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  3. hi dawn... indeed it should. :)

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