I think that all my friends hate summer. My friends love autumn, which I used to enjoy, but now despise. In my Florida childhood, the change in the air meant cooler temperatures and that it was time to trick or treat. Now, the change in the air reminds me of two things: - Being home alone and catching someone peering in my window at 3 am, which frightened the daylights out of me and made me afraid to sleep at night; and - Packing off to divinity school and having a mental breakdown which resulted in memory loss and a long string of moving. Summer is not as exciting in Pittsburgh as it is probably anywhere else. The first summer I spent here, it was so overcast almost every day. I thought, I'll never get a tan. The few days that were sunny were maybe in the mid-80's; it didn't even feel hot enough for me to be outside in a swimsuit. I wore a blazer to work in August. (This is inconceivable to me as a Floridian.) This year, summer is summer. The sun is shining. The temperature goes above 90. In the two years since I've moved here, my blood has thickened, and I get hot very easily. We didn't have rain for weeks. I would take two showers a day, not long showers, just short cool showers to rinse off the sweat and lower my body temperature. (The pool is closed due to COVID-19, which is an extremely wise move even though people are mad about it and have signs in their yards asking people to sign a petition to reopen it. ) Whenever I'd get in a cool shower, I'd think: I just want to be dropped bodily into Weeki Wachee Springs. Despite growing up in Florida AND being obsessed with beautiful women and mermaids for most of my childhood/adulthood/life, I did not finally go to Weeki Wachee Springs until I was in my 30's. My best friend and I went with her kids and it was a non-stop delight. Weeki Wachee is famous for its mermaid shows - there are several within a day - and they are a delight. The ones in rotation when we went were: - A version of The Little Mermaid which include a fun sea witch and someone dressed as a turtle, as well as requisite handsome prince (ours had an anchor tattoo) - A modern mermaid show with the current mermaid roster, which is, as I recall, just some underwater choreography as well as deep diving (the auditorium is basically a clear wall built against a side of the actual spring, so the bottom of the spring isn't visible to the audience) - A retro mermaid show with the older women who were once Weeki Wachee mermaids, doing more underwater choreography in the style of the shows when they were mermaids, as well as the fun tricks like drinking a bottle of soda underwater: Weeki Wachee Springs is, after all, a cold spring, so guests may swim in the cold spring. (It's cordoned off from the Underwater Theater.) It is absolutely delightful. I think the water stays around 75 or 77 degrees Fahrenheit, almost too cold for a temperate day, but it is so crisp and cool and makes one feel like a brand new person. There is a nice waterslide into the springs as well, and your little Florida wildlife animal shows with snakes and baby 'gators and whatnot. For souvenirs, you can get a photo taken with a live mermaid or with the various and sundry mermaid sculptures set up around the park. Or, for a mere $2, you can get a mermaid Mold-O-Rama: These are apparently not in huge rotation these days, but it was really the perfect souvenir. Mermaid? Yes. Cheap? Fully. I believe they have this posing blue mermaid and a green version with a mermaid riding a seahorse. I love summer. I am an island girl, I guess, at heart. My friend Jayne used to make me summer mix CDs with great J-Pop bands and singers: Petty Booka, The Pillows, Namie Amuro, Coconuts Musume, HEARTSDALES. I have one from 2005 that is unfortunately so scratched that I could only import seven songs of it into iTunes. Ever resourceful, Jayne has made a Spotify playlist called Bittersweet Orange that is a little more modern.
I also love the smells of summer: The ocean, the smells of the river tides, the coconut and papaya scents of sunscreen. The smell of a tropical storm. Summer memories: coconut car air freshener bought from a surf shop, playing the 2005 summer mix in my car when driving my sister to our favorite beach access, banana flavored icees from the corner store, Saturday tacos al pastor from La Sureña accompanied by a Cocola in the glass bottle. Late-night pizza from Townies after the dining room has closed. Eating clementines at the beach as the sun rises and the ocean is glass. Swimming in the glass ocean at daybreak, when no one's out, so you can loop your bikini around your wrist and skinny-dip for a bit. Building a sand pyramid. (Making sure you have a ruler in your beach bag so you can build a sand pyramid.) Being a kid and running directly into the surf as soon as you put your towel down. Digging far enough into the sand to get a nice pool for your sand castle. Finding a pelican skull. Seeing a beach ghost. Having a friend take you to the restricted beach access so you can look at the stars without light pollution. I haven't been in the ocean in three years. It's about 400 miles away. I don't know if I'll go back to Florida, but I have to go back to the sea.
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AuthorArtist, essayist, divinity school dropout. Here for a good time, not for a long time. Archives
February 2024
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