"These are the days of the endless summer
These are the days, the time is now
There is no past, there's only future
There's only here, there's only now."
This summer, we bought some kayaks. It was Memorial Day weekend that Beau lovingly pushed me out to sea (ahem, lake) completely against my will and I was convinced I would not be able to figure the whole thing out, let alone stay afloat and dry with my daughter in tow. But as we made our way out to the other side of George Wyth Lake that day, effortlessly gliding through the water as the hot sun beat on my skin, it didn't take me long to fall in love with it all. And if that first experience at George Wyth didn't convince me, kayaking in the middle of beautiful Lake Tahoe later this summer easily sealed the deal.
Our first Friday night with the kayaks was one I won't forget. It was unseasonably chilly for an August night, and we grabbed sweatshirts and barbecue and headed out to Big Woods to picnic by the water. It was an hour or so before sunset, so we set out to the west side of the lake to catch the golden hour. My kayak is a longer, flat topped one that Mila can sit on, and we bought a slightly shorter one that Cruz can grow into. For our first night out, Beau tied a rope from his kayak to Cruz's, but it was only on the ride back to shore that Beau untied it and quickly discovered our little man needed no help parading around that water, whipping his paddle back and forth and passing us all by a mile.
All night, I kept thinking that this would be one of those nights we will dream about in February. The weather was perfectly crisp, the lake looked like glass, and the kids' faces glowed with that wild look of summer. We took our time paddling across the lake, and soon came upon this sand hill that seemed to connect to private or inaccessible public property. We parked our boats and the kids immediately begged to get out. We made them promise not to put their faces in or drink the water, and they proceeded to run down the hill at full speed, splashing into the water over and over again. Their squeals of joy echoed around us and their smiles as wide as the sunset lit up that August sky and my content heart in the best of ways. An older couple kayaked by and lingered a little longer, smiling as the kids swam. These are the days, they reminded us.
Oh, are they ever.
"These are the days now that we must savor
And we must enjoy as we can
These are the days that will last forever
You've got to hold them in your heart."
-Van Morrison, These Are the Days
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