Summer summer summer summer summer

I liked 1978. I was 7.

My favorite movie, “The Deer Hunter” was released that year along with my other favorite movie, “Superman” and my sometimes-favorite movie “Star Wars”. Van Halen released their first album along with Kiss’ “Double Platinum” which my brother and I dutifully taped onto one cassette, carefully printed out the song titles in the accompanying cassette label, and listened to over and over and over and over and over and over and I still have it somewhere in my garage. Olivia Newton-John’s “I Honestly Love You” was playing all the time on the radio station my parents listened to although it was released in 1974; it’s a miracle that I ever managed to discover great things like Fender Stratocasters being played by phenomenal people like Stevie Ray Vaughan.

When I was 17, I bought my first car which was a ’78 Camaro. I used to drive around everywhere in the summer with the windows down which produces a wind tunnel effect similar to the hair dryer mechanism in “Blade Runner” that Joanna Cassidy uses. Men probably only remember that scene for Ms. Cassidy being naked but I bet most women remember that hair dryer thing. She just sticks her head up in that clear plastic bubble and POOF one minute later her hair is perfectly dry and styled. Someone should actually invent that.

All summer consisted of was swimming, mowing the lawn, walking through tall grass, mowing the lawn, swimming under water for hours (okay, minutes), sleeping with the windows open, putting on lots of mosquito repellant…oh, and swimming. I haven’t swum yet this summer. I also haven’t slept with the window open yet but then again, the city is a dangerous place and I don’t have anyone to protect me but me and it would be pretty stupid to leave the windows open when I’m letting my guard down.

I’ve been bemoaning the fact that I haven’t gotten out to do many summer things yet this summer (If I can think of a way to construct a sentence that uses the word ‘summer’ even more, I’d do it…summer.) I actually haven’t said it out loud to many people, I’ve just been thinking it over and over in my head; this way, no one knows what a whiner I am…until now.

BUT that’s all about to change. I get a chance to go to a real, live cabin this weekend. And, holy crap, it has a dock. The last time I tried to run off of a dock was about three years ago on a trip up to White Earth where there was a serious drought on and people had to jump into my path in order to stop me from jumping off of a dock that would have landed me on my head into a pile of mud. NOT THIS TIME! WOOHOO! That dock is going to get jumped off in a way it’s never been jumped off before and I hope it’s ready for it. It better start working out, stretching, preparing mentally, whatever it takes. The only thing that would be better is if I had a ’78 Camaro to drive up there in.

I’m going to buy a ’78 Camaro, restore it and drive it down to Texas to swim in the ocean. It’s going to be epic.