First Monday of the Summer

There's a special kind of pleasure on the first Monday of the summer vacation. The pleasure starts Sunday night, when, instead of the usual rush to get everybody to bed because it's a school night, you can be a little more relaxed. No school tomorrow!

Yesterday we partied with graduates for most of the day. Graduation was Saturday evening, as usual, and Sunday was the traditional round of parties and open-houses. We got to bed later than usual - and that was OK!

Today, to celebrate the beginning of our first full week of freedom, my children and I went with a friend to visit a blogging buddy who lives out in the country. We shared lunch together and our children played and we talked and talked; it was a wonderful, restful day.

A big part of the pleasure of this day is that it's the beginning - summer stretches out ahead of us and we don't know what it holds. Sure, we know it will go fast, and that it won't seem any time at all before school looms ahead, but for today, anything seems possible around the next bend.