Goodbye Summer

Sometimes I don’t like the summers in Dillingham.  Our friends are out travelling, no see ums get stuck in Yukon’s fur and Will’s curly hair, and there are weeks where the sun never comes out.

Yet other times, especially when friends are around, the wind blows the bugs away, and the sun is out, summer is my absolute favorite season.  Outdoor escapades are so much easier in the summer, because I actually have time to get outside. I can be flexible with my plans, spending all day outside in good weather and all day inside on the days where it is pouring. I can be spontaneous, deciding to get outside as soon as the clouds clear.

Thursday night I looked at the weather. The icon for Friday was a cloud, but the cloud didn’t have any raindrops underneath it. I was already starting to become hopeful. I then looked at the hour by hour forecast. There was a sun icon at 10am and 11am. I was determined to be outside during that window of time.

Early Friday morning I got in touch with a friend to see if she wanted to come kayaking. She quickly came over to my house where we loaded a single kayak, a double kayak, paddles, lifejackets, and three kids into our vehicles. As we loaded up, there was still a chill in the air. I was wearing my insulated jacket and her kids had their hats on. After a twenty minute drive we arrived at the lake. Our arrival coincided perfectly with the arrival of the sun. It had burned through the fog, raising the temperature and our spirits. I left my coat in the car and we got the kayaks loaded into the lake. We spent a little more than an hour leisurely paddling around the lake.

The first time I kayaked with Will this summer he wanted to try to stand up in the boat, but this time he understood and sat down the entire time. He thought it was hilarious to hold the paddle with me. He giggled when I paddled hard and made the boat move quickly. He looked around at the trees and mountains with a smile on his face. Our only real problem was that at one point we heard a loon and pointed that out to the kids. Will spent the next five minutes shouting, “spoon” and being angry that I did not have a spoon to give him.

This was one of the days where summer is my favorite season. With work starting on Monday it was a great way to say goodbye to a great summer.