You can feel it in the air as soon as May comes around. There is the hint of heat, the brighter mornings, and the knowledge that soon you can sleep until noon and do whatever you want without there being homework or a project due. The days are longer, the nights are cool and in the distance you can hear the ice cream truck if you listen close enough.
When we were kids that sound meant everything to us. Most did not even think twice before running towards the sound. Someone would yell from down the block and suddenly everyone was outside, grabbing whatever coins they could find while running after the truck like it was the most important thing in the world; while just barely making it before it drove off. This is something that was so small yet so important to us, it is something that mattered.
Summer was not all about making plans, it was something that happened naturally. You would wake up late in the afternoon, eat a quick breakfast, and go outside to play with your friends for hours until the sun set.
Even the small things felt huge, but now everything is different. Summer still comes as it did before but it no longer comes with chasing ice cream trucks and playing outside with your friends. It now comes with hangouts with your friends at the mall, group chats, and FaceTime calls instead. Things no longer happen as naturally as they once did when we were kids, everything is planned now.
While that is not always the biggest issue, the constant focus being on group chats and social media being the center of attention has taken away from what summer truly is. A time to just be free. A time to be a kid while you still can.
When we are constantly on our phones we tend to miss out on the little things that summer has to offer. Things like the ice cream truck, playing in water, and just having fun with friends.
We grow up and one day we go from running after the ice cream truck to just listening as kids get excited and do what you once did.
One summer you are outside until the street lights go off and the next you are too busy with different responsibilities and social media, wondering where the day went.
However, every once in a while you get to go on a late night drive with the warm air and slight breeze with no phone in hand, music playing loudly while smelling the fresh cut grass and suddenly you are a kid again, enjoying summer afternoons.
Maybe summer did not really change at all. Maybe we just did and we are still learning how to find it again in the midst of everything else.
