Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Lazy: I might alter this word slightly to ‘relax, relaxing, relaxed!’ In a brief recap of arts festival edition No. 44, my extended family and I enjoyed this year’s artists, concerts and other events that took place. As I mentioned in my last column, I was looking forward to attending the band Cartoon, and it did not disappoint! The performance allowed me to sing along to all of the familiar tunes and re-connect with all of the other Cartoon fans there.

This year’s festival also allowed my wife and I to catch up with some of our extended family members who were visiting for the weekend. It’s always amazing to me how you know your family so well and yet there are always stories that come out over a weekend together that you never knew about!

For example, my wife’s one aunt and uncle were in attendance, and they were two of the 14 brothers and sisters my wife’s mother had! We were discussing how, back then, having 15 children wasn’t out of the ordinary, unlike now, when everyone in our family has between one to three children, tops! Uncle Charlie, who was in the middle of the 15 kids, stated he always thought that babies were delivered in a black bag! Aunt Alice agreed and they went on to explain to all of us why. The doctor would arrive with his black bag and all of the children were taken to their grandparent’s house. A couple hours later, when all of the children were returned back to their home, the doctor and his black bag were gone and there was a new baby! My daughter quickly commented over the laughter to add, ‘Don’t be silly! We all know that babies really come from and are delivered by storks!’

Hazy: We’ve had 90-degree days and 70-degree nights. Folks, this is what summer is all about! Every morning before work, I enjoy the stroll I take to get our newspaper, serenaded by a symphony of bird calls. My wife and I have identified most of them, but every so often a new soloist introduces his or herself to the song.

After work, my wife and have been eating dinner outside on our side porch. Lately, our dessert has been more of a light show of countless fireflies dancing around the yard. Later in the evening we go out to our front porch and gaze up at the stars. Every time either one of our girls come home, they mention how in the cities they live in, the stars are harder to find. If you get a chance later tonight, look up and see how gorgeous the stars shine over Happy Valley. Here, I think it’s the sky that’s hard to find amongst all of the stars!

Crazy (as in sports fanatic): Another fun summer activity for me is to, of course, catch some baseball games. This summer I was especially interested in the District 5 Little League All Star tournament. I would like to send out a special congratulations to the State College National Team, who just recently won this. They have advanced on to the Section 4 tournament that is being held in Indiana, PA. If they continue their success and win this tourney, they will then go on to play for the state title with the rest of the best in the state. I’m hoping that I get to attend a couple more of these games!

I’m sure I can speak for many when I say that watching these kids play and complete reminds me of when I played little league. When I was 12, we made it to Lock Haven’s tournament and, although we lost in the second round, there are such great memories that I still carry with me to this day. To all of the players, their parents and the fans of this State College National team: good luck!