Friday, August 12, 2016

221. Summer

What have I learned so far this summer. This summer has been a pretty decent one as far as summers go. I do miss working baseball games, but I don’t miss the late nights writing. I’m enjoying that I get to spend a little more time with friends and family. I’m happy I’m close to the cities and friends. I’m happy I have air conditioning. Here’s a little recap so far:

Prepare: I’ve been to three music festivals so far this summer (Rock the Garden, Basilica Block Party, and Hazelfest.) It’s good to go to those things with a little bit of preparation. You need sunscreen and to apply it liberally. Wearing earplugs is always a good idea. (I don’t care if I’ve shifted from “kid at concert status” to “adult at concert status”; I value my hearing.) It’s also good to bring your own water bottle. I’ve come to put a lot of value on hydration. I probably drink about four or five nalgene bottles a day. I know I’m going to need even more when I’m sitting outside in the sun. There’s no use in buying water for five bucks. Bring your own and you’ll save a ton of money and have a much more enjoyable time.

Early: I think I’ve accepted that it’s ok to leave early from events. I left early from a couple of soccer games and concerts. I don’t have a hard and fast rule on this, but I really didn’t care to watch the last five minutes of Minnesota United vs. Bournemouth. The parking lot at the United Stadium is so crap, I didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes to get out of there. I also left the Ryan Adams concert during his last song. Fighting traffic with 20,000 other people just didn’t seem like the how I wanted to spend my evening after a very long day.

Summer movies: You don’t have to see every summer movie that comes out. It’s OK to save money during the summer. I regret seeing “Suicide Squad” a little bit. I think my new policy should be just to see movies on the five-dollar Tuesday evening showings. Those are about the only times where I feel I get my moneys worth. I impulsively saw “Suicide Squad” on a Thursday evening when other plans had fallen through. I didn’t eat dinner and I knew I was going to be hungry, so I shelled out 18 bucks for a ticket, drink, and popcorn. Not worth it in my book.

Comparing: Don’t compare your summer to other’s. Unless you’re just sitting inside and not enjoying the summer in context (meaning, you can watch Netflix all year, but you can’t go swim in the lake all year.) Just do your own thing and enjoy summer your own way. (If that means wathing Netflix all summer, well, do what you gotta do.) I’ve enjoyed my summer of music and soccer, even though it’s not quite what I had in mind for the months of June, July, and August of 2016.

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