I called my Mom on my way to work this morning, as per my usual routine, and she was celebrating her first day of summer vacation by purchasing a watermelon. This prompted me to think of how the concept of summer has changed for me now that I'm not a student. I have been officially school-free for two years. Weird. So, without the influence of an academic calendar, my summer takes on the following characteristics:

1. No ballets. The dancers and the artistic staff take some time off in the summer, so it's usually very quiet around the Tulsa office. The rest of us spend hours planning and scheduling the upcoming year, and it's a nice break from the pace of the performance season.
2. No school zones to drive through in the morning. This makes me very happy.
3. Lots of time at the pool. Our neighborhood pool opened last weekend, and we spent the entire day there on Saturday. Based on the number of houses currently occupied in the neighborhood, we figured that no more than thirty families will be using it this summer, so it's very nice and uncrowded.
4. An increase in my desire to cook. Something about all the summertime vegetables and herbs always makes me want to spend more time in the kitchen. I love tasty heirloom tomatoes...
5. A dramatic increase in the number of freckles covering my face and shoulders. They pop out after I spend a couple of days in the sun and go away in the fall.
6. Very little makeup. Along with the freckles comes a nice dose of color to my face, so I tend to avoid most of my makeup products.

And that's about all, really. Bryan, on the other hand, starts his next nine week school cycle tonight. He won't be enjoying quite as much free time as me this summer. One more year, though, and he'll be school-free too.