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Sidewalk sparkles


Shiney bits on the ground on Bastille Day. Walking to lunch today with Sally, the concrete was alive with the glitter of magic! It was like daytime fireworks under our feet.

I had planned to write about the passing of the seasons, especially summer. How it just doesn’t mean the same thing to me as an adult. Especially in San Francisco. Sure, the days are longer and the quality of light different, but it does not hold the magic of days of yore when the academic calendar ruled my life. Well, that and summer humidity.

Just today I saw a back-to-school sign in a store and felt nothing. Once upon a time I would have lamented the impending end of my seasonal freedom. Instead, I felt nothing.

As midnight is fast approaching, I’ll save my memories of 1994 fireworks in Paris on Bastille Day that inspired fear and awe. (However, I did have a surprise run-in with my Tours roommate Celeste just yesterday, a trip down memory lane outside of Ritual Roasters. More on that some other time.)

For now, I’ll just summer solo in my memories of vacations past.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 10:57 pm and is filed under life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

3 Responses to “Sidewalk sparkles”

  1. Darcy Says:
    July 15th, 2010 at 2:42 am

    There’s some fragment of poetry stuck in my mind that refers to the sidewalk sparkles as “glittering schist,” so thank you for bringing that to mind. It’s funny, when I would see those back-to-school signs, I think my reaction was less sadness for the end of vacation and more tummy flips of anxiety for the season of new (new teachers, new classes, new schedules and routines) ahead. I’m so glad you’re posting again. 🙂

  2. WillyG Says:
    July 15th, 2010 at 3:37 am

    I can relate a bit to your mourning the loss of summer, but for me back to school season was also mingled with incredible anticipation. Sick as I may be, I think it was the euphoria of getting new school supplies…New backback, new lunchbox, a new stack of notebook paper, a bottle of rubber cement, and a Five-Star notebook…I guess it was one of the few times to get new stuff.

  3. Darci Says:
    July 15th, 2010 at 8:29 am

    As a teacher, I still get the joy of the academic calendar. 10 months on, 2 months off with the joy of that lovely winter break; but trust me those 10 months can kill you if your not careful.

    Glad to see your words again!

    And 2 Darci/ys on one page….very odd.