Summer is

 

Summer is

waking up with BRIGHT sun in your face

no matter how early you awoke the sun was already up and inescapable

it was sweltering hot and there wasn't anything to do but get up and jump in the water

later in the day you had to seek some shelter, a van, a towel or even go home! Anywhere the sun wasn't shining

But as soon as the sun went down you were out an amongst the rabble again!

layers of sunburn about to reach critical mass

we would all stop wearing wetsuits as soon as possible

by August it had been months since you had worn one

(the rash was almost gone)

So everyday and from every direction you got just a little more burnt

shorts and a tee shirt was the only clothes you could wear, you radiated heat

The rumor was, if that last little flake of skin covering your nose came off the whole thing turned cancerous

(to this day my dermatologist smiles when I tell him I spent my youth at the beach)

the surf and weather

They never changed the report on TV, in the paper or on the recorded surf report all summer

"...the surf is out of the South West from one to three feet. There maybe late night and early morning low clouds burning off in the early morning..."

Of course every day wasn't an exact copy of the previous one

Bigger south swells came (along with surprisingly cold water) and went, the jelly fish would arrive in mass and whole waves would consist of jelly fish and like two cups of water.

A great time to go body surf.

An even better time to lay on the sand and work on the tan...