A Cooler Perspective on Summer

Summer swoops in with all the charm of a veteran speed dater. Waves ripple and the sun sparkles, taunting us with longer days, sleeveless temperatures, loose routines, and countless reasons to play harder. However, like the camp romances that blossom in its presence, summer has one fatal flaw: an inability to commit. As suddenly as it arrives, it moves on.

We experienced a lot together, though, and I’ll treasure the memories we shared.

I saw you lounging next to the water, absorbing the sun’s rays, best-selling novel in one hand and ice cold beverage in the other. You seemed so relaxed. It was probably because you invested in the Bison hauler. I remember last year when you looked like a pack mule carrying chairs, towels, sunscreen, kids, and me from the car to the water. I won’t mention the trail of items you dropped along the way or how you yelled at the kids to walk faster because the %*^&(# cooler is heavy. (That was rude, by the way.)

Then there was the weekend after you got the Chillin’ Brew Ice Packs... (I still laugh when I think about it.) The softball team had a tournament weekend that included a doubleheader Saturday. You knew everyone would want a cold one at the end of the day, so you packed the cooler with a Chillin’ Brew Ice Pack, some hipster craft beers, and a layer of ice. Eighteen innings and 12 hours worth of 90+ degrees later, the team was ready to celebrate by popping the top off an ice cold beverage, but when the first person reached inside me and pulled out a few beers, they were all frozen together against the ice pack. LOL. If CB (that’s what I call Chillin’ Brew) and I had hands, we totally would’ve slapped a high five. But we kept it cool…

While you put a cap on the sunscreen, deflate the flamingo floatie, and cram your feet back into real shoes, find comfort in knowing that even though summer is gone, I’m not going anywhere. I look forward to all we have planned together this fall.

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This post is a fictional collage of the emails Bison sent over the summer. If you enjoyed the stories and want to read them in real time (and we know you do), sign up to have them delivered directly to your inbox by sharing your email address with us.