Summer Traditions
It's Sunday evening as I write, and tomorrow is my first day back in the office after a week's vacation. My son will be back in school, work will begin anew, and the calendar will be ready to flip from August to September. While the season will go on for nearly another month, summer vacation is officially over. Like so many before them, this one has gone too fast.
As I write this blog, I'm puffing on a special end of vacation cigar, an old Montecristo No. 2 from Cuba. A friend gave it to me a few years ago, and I've been reserving it for a special occasion. Tonight fits the bill. It's a brilliant smoke, one that lives up to the heady tradition of this famed brand, and it's the perfect ending to a wonderful time off, the ideal nightcap after a summer dinner of grilled steaks, salad with a fat, ruby red tomato fresh from the garden and a little Bordeaux.
It's been a great summer, one of kayaking on the sea, golfing with family and friends (including my boy, who has just taken up the game) and many trips to the beach. We made it out to Hershey Park to ride rollercoasters and took a day trip to Gettysburg to step foot on Cemetery Hill and stand where Gen. Meade's troops held off Pickett's Charge. We woke without alarm clocks and seemed to live in swimsuits and sandals.
Perhaps the highlight of my summer was Friday's camping trip. It was tents on the beach, open fires and marshmallows, hot dogs and bug spray, swimming in the water and horsing around. My buddy and I took our kids (the wives stayed home) and we enjoyed seeing the brood play without phones, TVs and iPads. Just fun the way it happened ages ago.
The kids stayed up far too late, of course, excited by the cool evening breeze, the flames dancing from the fire pit and the stories we told. As the full moon rose and the kids tucked into over-roasted marshmallows, I brought out the cigars, a pair of Oliva Serie V Churchill Extras. My pal Mark brought along a little Bourbon, Jefferson's Ocean.
We sat in our beach chairs and puffed and sipped. There wasn't a worry in the world beyond keeping the fire going and slapping away the occasional mosquito looking for a meal. The cigars were extraordinary, the Bourbon divine. The pairing worked beautifully.
As I watched my son play with his friends, it made me happy to know he was making memories that I hope will last him a lifetime. We've done this trip before, with the same group, and we intend to do it again. One day I hope my son will be bringing his own child to swim in the same clear waters, pitch a tent on the same grounds and begin to pass along his own summer traditions to the next generation.
Yes, summers are too short, but if they never ended we wouldn't realize just how dear they are. And yes, there are some things on my wish list that I just didn't get to this summer... not yet. But maybe September will cooperate and give us some glorious, mild weekends so I can extend the memories for just a little longer.
