carefree and without shame

You know, I remember when summer was fun. :) Now, I can't stand the heat and humidity and having to wear sunscreen all the time. The air conditioner is my best friend. But when I was a kid, we were outside constantly. Fire hydrants. Running around in the woods and the fields. Playing pretend in the sandbox and shed and on the swing set. Hearing the ice cream truck and running inside to beg quarters from our parents, then running back outside to the truck and every kid in the neighborhood was buying ice cream. Turning brown as a berry. I remember when I was in third grade, I had a good friend and neighbor who was from England. She also had a pool. So I was at her house one day, and we wanted to go swimming, but I didn't have my bathing suit! I said I would run across the street to get it, and she said don't worry, you don't need a swim suit! So we went skinny dipping. I had no idea it was shocking here in America until I went home and my mom expressed dismay. (My mom does feel bad about that - she wishes she hadn't expressed dismay!)

Now buildings have taken the place of the woods and fields, and there has to be great incentive to convince me to brave the bugs, and kids these days don't get excited about ice cream trucks like we did. If I have a pool of my own someday, though, I'll go skinny dipping again. Just to remember what it was like to be a child, carefree and without shame, jumping off the diving board naked as a jay bird, with my arms raised in the air, and laughing.

In other news, I feel awesome today after the great workout yesterday. Yes, my muscles hurt like hell, but it's a very good kind of hurt. If I keep this up, I'll be ready for the summer in no time! Today I've gone easy in order to rest my muscles, but tomorrow I'm going to amp it up.

I cleaned a bit today to help my Hercules. :) It's not my forte, but it felt good.

Speaking of cleaning, this is the truth: