Vacays

  Now that we celebrated the 4th of July it feels like summer is half over. In fact, it is just 57 days until Labor Day. And Labor Day is the end of summer. It's been that way all my life. Having grown up in an area where "summer" money was of primary importance I was well aware of that. The season we called it. The fourth of July was the peak and Labor Day was the end. The season has lost some of its' importance over the years as tourists became residents. It happens everywhere and continues until a new playground is discovered. It may take a few generations, but it will happen. Newport, in the season, comes to mind for us of the boomer generation and before that. We all heard of the place with its' glorious mansions and social life, in the season. You don't hear much about that anymore. Very few of the wealthy today could afford anything on that scale. Servants, mansions, yachts, huge parties and all of that. Then Labor day arrived, the last hurrah of summer, and those folks went to their winter quarters. They all went back to making money while we counted ours. That's how it worked where I grew up.

 Summer is the time for vacations for those that work indoors. That's the way I always viewed that. Those folks came from the cities where they worked in office buildings. They didn't get to enjoy the great outdoors much, maybe on the weekends, but from Labor Day to the end of June they were indoors. To come outside, to go fishing, swimming, boating, or just seeing the ocean or the bay was a vacation to them. I lived with all of that everyday. Working outdoors in the summer heat, in the cold of winter, on the water when it is rough isn't a vacation, it's making a living. There are few comforts involved with any of that. Now sitting on the sidewalk sipping a cool drink between shopping spree is another thing altogether. Sailing on your yacht is a bit different than scalloping from an open boat in February! 

 I didn't come from a family that went on vacations. Not once did we as a family go anywhere on vacation, not even for a few days. We did go to a large department store twenty-five miles from where we lived and that was an outing. That was about as close to a vacation as it got. Now we did have picnics on the beach, even built a fire a few times, had a clambake. Dad usually had a boat of some kind that we could go fishing on every once in a while. That didn't happen often as Dad was always working. On the weekends, if he had a day off going out to do something, wasn't usually on the agenda. If there wasn't anything to be repaired or built at home just sitting in the shade in the backyard was a vacation. A real vacation meant you didn't have to do anything. Only rich people could afford that. The rest of us had to work.

 I have since been on real family vacations since those days. That happened when my son and his wife decided to go on vacations and let us old folks tag along. We went for a week or more several times. Now funds weren't unlimited, and everything planned carefully beforehand. But yes, money was spent in a rather frivolous way occasionally. It was a treat! There were times, moments, went I felt wealthy indeed. I was standing on the other side of the line so to speak. I was aware of those that were working, waiting on me. It was a sort of power. I began to understand how you could become the way some of those wealthy folks where, obnoxious. The customer is always right attitude. To be honest though, I always felt a bit guilty as well. I'm not one to send the food back, complain about a missing bar of soap or not enough towels. I could get that way though.

 I've been retired for a number of years now. No more vacations for me. I say that because what would I be taking a vacation from? Vacations are an escape from work, that's their purpose. I'm on vacation every day. I have no place I have to be beyond those places that I choose to go. I could go sightseeing. There is plenty I would like to see.  If you go sightseeing for an extended period of time what is that called? Is it an expedition? No, an expedition implies a hard journey of some type with a definitive purpose in mind. Is it a vacation? Well, I guess you could rationalize that by saying you are vacating your normal routine. 

 Summer is half over and I wonder where the time went. Seems like I've been cutting the grass for months. The heat is getting oppressive, storms coming in and the bugs! I don't have any small children around anymore; the grandchildren are all grown now. No kids out of school. I haven't been fishing yet or gone to the beach. No particular reason why I haven't just thought of doing that yet. I do have a crabbing trip planned for next month. That will be the closest thing to a vacation I take this summer. I did enjoy a riverboat cruise a week or so ago and that was like a mini-vacation. I didn't have to pay for a thing! Now that's a vacation. A vacation from reality. Isn't that what all vacations are? Yes, that's the goal.