Where did the summer go?

The Sherlock summer of 2004 went by all too quickly. We did not do the Big Family vacation this year. Allison, our oldest daughter, just graduated from high school and is headed off to college, so she got a “real” summer job as a hostess at a near by Cracker Barrel restaurant. Carolyn, our youngest also got a good job babysitting for a family in the neighborhood every other week. This allowed her to spend a week at driver’s education (30 hours) and then spend two weeks away at music camp. We combined dropping her off at the Univ. of New Hampshire with our own week away up at a quiet lake outside Baxter State Park in Maine. A couple of day trips were filled in with some walks, kayaking along the shore, and plenty of time to read. Before my wife and I knew it, the week was over. We stopped back at music camp to visit with Carolyn before coming home. Allison had split the time while we were away alternately staying with a close friend, and then having the friend stay at our place.

The highlight of the summer was a last minute trip to West Point. Allison did not get scheduled to work on this weekend and wanted to go see her long time friend Nate on “A” Day. Our two families had been neighbors for several years in NJ before we relocated to MA. We have continued to get together for summer vacation, most recently spending a glorious two weeks exploring the Black Hills and the surrounding parks and monuments in 2003.

Anyway, “A” Day is Acceptance Day where all the “new cadets” graduate and join with the upper classmen in the Long Grey Line. We got up early on Saturday and drove the three hours to rendezvous with the family and await the ceremony. It was an impressive display of military protocol. It was also the first time, Nate’s family and friends got to see him after sending him off to the six weeks of basic training or “beast camp”. About 20 of us had gathered and we had a good old fashioned picnic over looking the Hudson River. Nate looked grown up in his dress uniform. We stayed over night at a near by hotel to make our return trip home easier.

Some last minute shopping working down the list drew us to the day we delivered Allison to her new school. Local schools opened the next week. My wife teaches kindergarten, and Carolyn entered high school as a junior. So the ladies are all in school and I am back at work wondering where the summer went.