“How is your summer going?”
“Good.”
“Did you do anything fun?”
That’s when it happened. The mind goes blank. And I am sure my face reflected that.
“Um….”
“Did you go tubing?”
“No.”
“Go on vacation?”
“No.”
“Swim a lot?”
“No.”
“Go to a river? Play in a lake?”
“No. No.”
A few more questions of possible things I might have done. Same answer from me.
“Nothing fun? Did you just work all summer? ”
“Well, um.. I didn’t not have fun. Just a normal summer I guess. ”
“Do you have any plans? Any thing you are going to do still?”
“No.”
“None? There is only a few short weeks of summer left!”
My mind is racing. Surely I can think of something I did that would fit under the category of “fun” to most people. Did I really just only work this summer? I guess I hadn’t thought about it Or how it would probably seem to others. There it is! A flash into my mind!
“We made a giant slip and slide.”
“ That sounds really fun.”
“ It was.”
There I thought of something! Relief. I didn’t have to leave that conversation in the awkward “I don’t have an answer” stage.
This was the conversation between my chiropractor and I a couple days ago. Right before my treatment. I may have thought of an answer for the moment, and we moved on to talking about what I had done to put my shoulder out, but my mind didn’t stop thinking. (And if anyone who really knows me very well in real life is reading this you will probably be laughing. Because you know that my mind is always going. And going. And going. It doesn’t stop very well. J And then my friends get strange texts asking random questions. Because well, “I got to thinking and was wondering…..”) How do I answer questions like that? I mean I didn’t not have fun. It is hard to explain to others though. Honestly, I really don’t think about whether or not I am having “fun” this summer or not! Well, at least not until somebody starts asking questions like those mentioned. Then as I am thinking it hits me. Fun is really a relative term. Just like the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Fun is really in the eye of the beholder as well. My mind keeps spinning, and the list of “fun” my summer contained just kept growing and growing as the day went on. So what exactly is my fun this summer?
It’s
My mind fills with all the many, many fun things that are filling my summer. Then the question arises… What does fun even mean? Maybe I am using it wrong. Maybe a different word would be more fitting to describe my ever growing list. So what does fun really mean?
Used as an adjective like we were it means:
- providing entertainment, amusement, or enjoyment
And its synonyms are-
-amusing, delightful, diverting, enjoyable, entertaining, pleasurable
I wasn’t using it incorrectly! Fun really, truly is in the eye of the beholder!
So yes I did have fun this summer! I had lots of fun! Was it what most consider fun? I don’t know. But to me it’s fun. Fun is all in the little things. The thousand little things that make summer, summer.
“Good.”
“Did you do anything fun?”
That’s when it happened. The mind goes blank. And I am sure my face reflected that.
“Um….”
“Did you go tubing?”
“No.”
“Go on vacation?”
“No.”
“Swim a lot?”
“No.”
“Go to a river? Play in a lake?”
“No. No.”
A few more questions of possible things I might have done. Same answer from me.
“Nothing fun? Did you just work all summer? ”
“Well, um.. I didn’t not have fun. Just a normal summer I guess. ”
“Do you have any plans? Any thing you are going to do still?”
“No.”
“None? There is only a few short weeks of summer left!”
My mind is racing. Surely I can think of something I did that would fit under the category of “fun” to most people. Did I really just only work this summer? I guess I hadn’t thought about it Or how it would probably seem to others. There it is! A flash into my mind!
“We made a giant slip and slide.”
“ That sounds really fun.”
“ It was.”
There I thought of something! Relief. I didn’t have to leave that conversation in the awkward “I don’t have an answer” stage.
This was the conversation between my chiropractor and I a couple days ago. Right before my treatment. I may have thought of an answer for the moment, and we moved on to talking about what I had done to put my shoulder out, but my mind didn’t stop thinking. (And if anyone who really knows me very well in real life is reading this you will probably be laughing. Because you know that my mind is always going. And going. And going. It doesn’t stop very well. J And then my friends get strange texts asking random questions. Because well, “I got to thinking and was wondering…..”) How do I answer questions like that? I mean I didn’t not have fun. It is hard to explain to others though. Honestly, I really don’t think about whether or not I am having “fun” this summer or not! Well, at least not until somebody starts asking questions like those mentioned. Then as I am thinking it hits me. Fun is really a relative term. Just like the saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Fun is really in the eye of the beholder as well. My mind keeps spinning, and the list of “fun” my summer contained just kept growing and growing as the day went on. So what exactly is my fun this summer?
It’s
- iced tea
- sitting on the front porch drinking that iced tea after a long hot day
- the smell of a hay meadow
- watching little kids fish
- the sound of birds, frogs, and bugs all going at once
- the smell of fresh cut grass
- watching kittens play
- dragon flies and butterflies
- the first cucumber from the garden. That everyone shares and only gets one slice of.
- fireworks on the fourth
- glow sticks
- a giant slip and slide
- squeaky tricycle wheels as a little boy races by
- the beauty of green hills in the setting sun
- a meadow full of hay bales
- thunderstorms and watching the lightning
- dancing and running around in the rain
- the intoxicating smell of rain
- growing things
- rainbows
- flip flops
- the roar of the nighttime creatures
- wild flowers blooming
- bouquets of alfalfa blossoms brought to you by a little sister
- bouquets of wild grasses and flowers scattered through out the house in various containers
- muddy children
- little boys playing in the sandbox
- children playing on the swing set
- clothes hanging on the line
- the smell of wild roses
- the look of a freshly mowed lawn
- little hands full of “treasures” to show you
- tans
- sun bleached hair
- watermelon
- little kid birthday parties
- hauling out mineral
- seeing the growing calves
- random glimpses of fawns
- finding bird’s nests
- the first ears of sweet corn
- turtles
- big straw cowboy hats
- shorts and tank tops
- little hands filled with creatures for you to take a picture of
- late nights and early mornings
- the way the setting sun makes the water drops from the sprinkler shine and sparkle
- toads and frogs
- tiki torches
- the voices of children as they run and shout and play
- the smell of hamburgers on the grill
- sandwiches, chips, and baked beans
- seventeen eggs setting under a broody hen with the excitement of baby chicks in the near future
- experimenting and trying new bath product recipes
- new landscaping
- growing trees
- watching hens chase bugs
- cold showers
- the sound of ideas, dreams, and plans being discussed in the fading daylight
- a cold drink of water out of a windmill on a hot windy day
- all the sights, sounds and smells that make up summer
My mind fills with all the many, many fun things that are filling my summer. Then the question arises… What does fun even mean? Maybe I am using it wrong. Maybe a different word would be more fitting to describe my ever growing list. So what does fun really mean?
Used as an adjective like we were it means:
- providing entertainment, amusement, or enjoyment
And its synonyms are-
-amusing, delightful, diverting, enjoyable, entertaining, pleasurable
I wasn’t using it incorrectly! Fun really, truly is in the eye of the beholder!
So yes I did have fun this summer! I had lots of fun! Was it what most consider fun? I don’t know. But to me it’s fun. Fun is all in the little things. The thousand little things that make summer, summer.