The Sound of Sunshine

So far this year, England hasn’t had the warmest of summers. Actually – hoping I don’t offend my English friends here – after 6 years living in North Yorkshire I haven’t really felt like I’ve seen summer at all. I might have unreasonably high expectations of summer however, so please don’t let me singlehandedly derail the Yorkshire Tourist Boards efforts to increase visitation during our summer months. North Yorkshire is beautiful, historic, charming, scenic and friendly…it’s just not warm. My Canadian skin longs for exposure to 30 degree + temperatures.  I’m only able to get that here if I sit on a radiator, and then only my butt would be grateful…the rest of me would continue shivering.

So this lack of warmth has me feeling all nostalgic about home, and what summer feels like in Canada. Summer feels like childhood, so maybe I’m also feeling nostalgic about that.

Some days you lose – you win, and the waters as high as the times your in.

So I jump back into where I learned to swim.

Try to keep my head above it the best I can.

Summer should smell like Coppertone, freshly cut grass, Sun-tea, and barbecue. Summer should sound like sprinklers, layered tracks of music from several different sources, laughter and lawnmowers. Summer should feel like warm skin, sandy toes, mosquito bites, and supple joints. Summer should look like green grass, packed beaches, open windows and sunshine.

That’s why; here I am

Just waiting for this storm to pass me by.

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down

When I was a kid we camped at the lake, caught fish and ate it…barbecued. We swam in the lake until our toes wrinkled and only came out to build sand castles. We had a campfire on the beach and sat around it roasting marshmallows, singing camp songs and playing guitars.

When I was a teenager we tanned all day, soaking our hair with Sun-In, coating our skin with oil. We splashed in the pool, flirted with the boys, and dreamt  of the future. We went to the mall, or the Waterpark, planned our outfits for dances and prayed the summer would never end.

And here I am just waiting for this storm to pass me by.

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down

Summer felt like freedom. Summer felt like possibility. Summer was extra time with my Grandparents, so that meant summer was also full of nurturing, a small amount of spoiling and a LOT of loving. Summer was Drive-in movies, ice-cold Slurp-ee’s, fried chicken and corn-on-the-cob. Summer was less clothes, tanned skin, bare-feet, and wet hair.

I want to go where the sun will never end

With my guitar on the beach there with all my friends.

The sun so hot and the waves in motion 

And everything smells like suntan lotion

So kick of your shoes and relax your feet

They say that miracles are never ceasin’

And every single soul needs a little releasin’ 

The stereo bumpin’ till the sun goes down

And I only want to hear that sound…

Summer was before I had to grow up. Summer was before work. Before kids, marriage and responsibility. Before Rett Syndrome. Before loss. Before grief. Summer was youth and blissful ignorance.

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down

That’s the sound of sunshine coming down