Saturday, June 23, 2007
When I was growing up, long June summer evenings were the worst of the year.
I remember lying in bed and listening to all the other kids play, the light of dusk streaming into my window, penetrating my eyelids and making every last moment that the sun was up hell.
My parents acting with cruel responsibility had given me an 8 pm curfew. During June when the sun doesn't go down until 10 pm it was brutal. I was stuck trying to sleep and not getting there fast for 2 hours.
After the treacherous ordeal my parents would often turn on the television. They loved watching stand-up comedians (or at least my dad did. My mom probably watched along with him so they could have time together).
I developed a love for stand-up comedy quickly and would often sneak down my hall towards the living room, trying to get as close as possible without being seen. They always caught me because they heard me laughing. Then they'd send me to my awful hellish prison of a room to powerlessly await the mercy of sleep.
Tonight I stood by the pool on lifeguard duty reminiscing about those awful hours of sleeplessness and watching the sun sink slowly below the horizon creating beautiful twilight. A baseball broadcast was on the radio, kids were in the pool especially late and parents were enjoying themselves while playing suburban adult games like "Who wants to move to the nicer more upscale neighborhood?"
It was a great ending to a pretty good day. Who could ask for more?
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