It's arrived. No more out of the blue rain storms. No more sweaters and long pants at night. No more escaping the call of any body of water that can be turned into a cooling station of some kind. June is here. ... summer. ... is. ... here! Saturday alone we were in our bathing suits twice, once at my friends for a swim in the kiddie pool and then later at my cousin's for a run through the sprinklers. Yesterday we hit up the community wading pool (which just opened so it's at the lowest pee levels for the summer) and cooled off for a few hours. It's not crazy hot. But it's California; we're sissies. 68 is freezing and 75 is boiling. That and we're pretty much born in swim suits so any excuse to don them is hastily grabbed. I just love what water represents. I know that's broad and fairly obvious; but it's pure, it's refreshing, it's the giver of life and we have this natural predisposition to immerse ourselves in it. We make our settlements around the abundant sources of water but it's not enough just to drink it and feed our crops, we have to move on it, swim through it, bath ourselves in it like Dionysus in wine. We pour it on our heads, we soak our appendages in it, sometimes we just lay down face first in it and blow therapeutic bubbles from the holes in our faces. We love water. As much fun as I had as a kid, it's even more enjoyable to watch my children enjoy the water. I miss the daily swim lessons being at work; but everyday I get my update from Gina. This weekend watching them wrestle in the pool with the other kids was almost as refreshing as being in there. Watching them squeal with delight as they tried to outrun the sprinkler (hoping to be doused with water but pretending like the goal was to avoid it) made me grin from ear to ear. Sitting waste deep with them in the wading pool. ... well, I almost forgot that there were a dozen other toddlers in there with us. ... and who knows what they were doing in that pool at that exact moment. I did enjoy watching the other parents there too. One little boy (obviously potty training) tried to relieve himself in a corner. His mother got wise and sprinted after him to which he responded by running way, pantsless. They then chased each other around the pool, she yelling at him to stop and he giggling with delight as his naked little butt zipped by my head for the 3rd lap. Then there was the little girl who decided to disrobe (or desuit I suppose is more appropriate) in the middle of the pool. Her mother had to hike up her dress and reluctantly wade over to stop that from happening. ... which she was too late for. Made it kind of feel like the watering hole on the African plain. All these different kinds of animals coming to one spot for the same thing, looking around at the others - zebra looking at the spotted giraffe, giraffe checking out the elephant, all three staring at the gazelle being gnawed on by the lions and thinking "yep. ... I've got to deal with that shit too."
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