Two Sweet Words

What are the two sweetest words in the English language?  I vote for "Friday payday" every month when that day rolls around.  The promise of getting my monthly allowance is so exciting....until I sit down and parcel it all out to my bills.  That kind of wrecks the wonderful feeling.  Then there is another standby:  "half price."  Ah, yes, there's the money factor again.  The idea that I could get two of whatever for the price of one is intriguing.  Too bad it's almost always something I will never, ever need.  Sometimes, I buy it anyway.

But right now, the two sweetest words for me are "summer vacation."  It is so for every student and teacher in the state, as well.  Especially now, when we're just on the cusp of all those days stretching out before us, it's so happy to contemplate.   I do sometimes wonder what everyone else's mind goes to for summer vacation. 

Is it staying up all night reading books or watching movies, or is that just me?

Is it running barefoot through the grass until exhaustion overtakes you, as it is for so many little ones?

Is it finding the coldest creek or the deepest lake and spending the whole day on it or in it, getting lobster-red and loud with your friends?

Is it hitting the road with mountains before you and relentless heat behind you, or exciting sights in unfamiliar cities, or setting up camp on a beach for a week and never thinking of any worries at all?

Is it taking an extra job to ease the money worries and frustrations of the school year?

Is it family activities and excursions on weekends, zoos and parks and movies, testing everyone's nerves but bonding over the activities?

Is it a continuation of daily life, only with a higher electric bill for the air conditioning?

Is it a respite in the yearly grind of 60-hour work weeks, an oasis in the desert of exhaustion?

"Summer Vacation" will always mean a little of each of these for me.  They are only different stages in the vacationing process.  That doesn't mean they don't overlap or repeat.  For example, I would happily run barefoot in the yard (especially if there were a sprinkler involved) any summer day, if I didn't live under the threat of losing a foot.  I don't do as many family excursions as I used to, but I still have my nieces a couple of days over the summer to run around and have fun with.  The last vacation trip I took was in 1995, for a few days in Nashville, but tomorrow I head out for a cruise that has me so excited that I don't know if I'll sleep tonight at all! 

Whenever there's talk of year-round school and that summer breaks are really outdated, I panic just a little.  I'm not ready to give up any of those definitions of summer vacation; it's not just that it's so enjoyable, but that it's so necessary.  Rewind, recharge, restore---those are the real definitions of my two sweetest words for today:  Summer Vacation!