It must be one of those mysteries of time, space and quantum physics, but for an area that supposedly enjoys four seasons a year, somehow winter seems to last forever and summer takes forever to arrive in Owensboro/Daviess County.
That’s a lot of “forevers” to pack into 365 days.
Kids and parents alike have bemoaned the fact that numerous snow days, flood days and the surprise water main break day extended the school year to the very far edge of May; the first day of June will be the first day of summer vacation for many students this year, and not a moment too soon.
All of June, all of July and a week of August might sound like a long time; taken on a day-by-day basis, perhaps it is.
But oh, when you consider this brief season on the scale of eternity, it passes in the blink of an eye.
All the more reason, then, to embrace and enjoy each and every moment.
Flip through the pages of this magazine to learn about all kinds of special events taking place throughout the summer; surely there is something that was scheduled specifically with you in mind. The library, the art museum, youth dance and theatre groups, the science and history museum—they are among those who have exciting programs and theme weeks and interesting activities for kids sprinkled across these summer month calendar pages.
And that doesn’t even begin to count the zillions of youth sports opportunities available here—everything from baseball to soap box derby.
So it’s no wonder that summer flies by, packed as it is with all kinds of “learn and do” activities ranging the full spectrum from arts to athletics to academics disguised as fun.
But somewhere along the way… step back from the calendar, the schedule, the to-do list, the be-here-go-there list.
Plan nothing—on purpose. That’s when everything happens.
That’s when you might hop on your bike and ride down the big hill with no hands for the very first time.
That’s when you might get bored enough to go exploring your very own basement, where you find a dust-covered book that had belonged to your parents and discover the adventures of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.
That’s when you and the other kids that live on your street might find yourselves outdoors at the same time on the same day. You’ve seen them before; you might even ride the school bus together, but you’ve never really talked to them. That’s when you find out you share the same interests, maybe in that quirky little hobby you thought nobody else around here even knows about or would ever care about, and a lifelong friendship is born.
That’s when you might get up early on garbage day and go scrounging through the toters lining your street in the cool of early morning, and come home dragging a pile of miscellaneous but interesting junk – maybe a broken lawn mower, maybe something your dad tells you is a VCR, maybe a pile of discarded building materials—and you spend the rest of the summer building and inventing and learning about something that—who knows?—might even be the inspiration for your future career.
Or maybe you just do nothing at all but lie on your back in the grass and watch the clouds go by… and in your imagination, perhaps for the first time in your life, you begin the grasp how awesome it is to live forever, all in the space of one childhood summer.