Short Stories and Essays

In The Summertime

Imagine driving to the lake on a hot summer day in Minnesota. The temperature is 90 degrees and the humidity nearly matches that number. On our favorite radio station, The Archies “ Sugar, Sugar ” is blaring. What could be more perfect? We turn the corner down the tree - lined lane, head to the main state beach, wait until the song ends, and run to the beach. It’s an awesome day. Bikini clad girls are everywhere. We’re cool and try to strike up conversations on the diving dock, about 50 feet from shore. (Only the good swimmers could get there and show their prowess to the girls of the same ilk.) It was magical. Strong. Tanned. Invincible. On the lookout for girls who thought we were “all that.” Soon it was time to head home. Sometimes phone numbers were exchanged . (At that time, it was usually a common shared household phone number, no private numbers. There was always a strong possibility that dad might answer the phone). We piled into the car and headed home to another round of football practice. The same radio station is now blaring “I Think I Love You,” by David Cassidy and The Partridge Family. Yes, we thought we loved all of the new girls we met that day. And then reality set in. 6 PM football practice. Ugg. With barely enough time to refuel our bodies, we mustered our tired selves to the locker room, but never regretting our decision to venture to the lake. Who knows? We may eventually run into the girls we met when we play their respective hometown teams in football in the fall. One could only hope.

Of course, we did it all again the next day.