Sierra slumped in her seat, a slump I’m becoming way too familiar with as the tweenage attitude settles onto her shoulders and shoves her deep in every chair she encounters.
“Summer is almost over,” she mumbled (trait number two in the annoying tweenager collection).
“Well, we’ve got another month,” I said, reassuringly.
She let out a sigh that would topple most heads of state (the sigh is number three in the collection. Don’t even ask about number four. Frankly, when we get to number ten, I’m sending her to my sister in Chicago lest I lock her in a tower for three years.). “But I can’t believe summer is almost over. It’s awful.”
I had to admit I agreed with her. This summer has screamed by at an insane pace, with barely a moment to truly revel in the 10 am breakfast and 10 pm movie.
Granted, we’re morning the loss of our lake around here. For some reason we can’t quite bring ourselves to boating on top of barely submerged trees. Could they not get a few chainsaws out before they let the water into the canyon? It’s gotten to the point that these days you’ve got to go water skiing with a machete - which seems to be a little dangerous.
Fortunately, the neighborhood pool has made up for our missing water time. The only downside is the vast quantities of chlorine.
Chlorine has already taken its toll on swimsuits, with each one looking pretty ragged one month into the season. Flip-flops have lost their structural integrity and every other load in the washing machine is towels with tiny holes forming in the terry cloth. Not to mention the snapping of several pairs of goggles. Kind of makes you wonder what we’re doing swimming in that stuff.
Despite chlorine’s power to break down everything from rubber to spandex, I’m not worried, because it is clearly causing a significant growth spurt around here. Both kids have outgrown two new swimsuits (purchased in May) and Sierra, despite her slouch (which one would think would stunt her growth), has outgrown a series of shirts and pants.
“We’ll just have to make the most of what we have left, I guess,” I said as we got out of the car to head to the pool.
