As children return to school this week, I wonder if the first assignment, after hand sanitizing and physical distancing, will be to write an essay describing their adventures of the summer months?
That was one assignment I started to dread in the higher grades when the summer activities were unlikely to win friends and influence fellow students. How do you get 200 words based on the reality of: “I didn’t do anything this summer?”
My summers spent babysitting or sitting in the yard with a book or riding my bike to a friend’s house paled in comparison to exploits at the lake, in the mountains, at Disneyland, tales told by others in the class. Although sometimes I did wonder if their summer exploits actually happened but challenging their stories was another way not to gain friendships.
And so, here we are in 2020 and I sit thinking what my back-to-school essay might say:
“Johnny Horton’s song, North to Alaska, has always been a favourite and so the plan was to head north to see all the sights we missed three years ago when we had only a three-hour stay in Skagway. I checked out driving distances and looked into accommodations for us along the way. What an adventure this would be.
“Did I happen to mention that we didn’t go to Alaska because of that COVID-19 pandemic that ended the trip and most others we might have considered? Nope, we missed the gold rush of the Horton song.
“So instead we mostly stayed home, except for the occasional short day trip here and there, always being mindful that it might take two or three hours one way, but there would be the same amount of time to get home the same day.
“Just like in olden days, we (I) packed a lunch because restaurants were mostly closed plus there would be no public washroom facilities available. My travelling companion was OK as long we found him a clump of trees off the beaten path. My dilemma was not the bushes but being able to stand up again from the required squat. Enough said about such personal matters but Housemate quipped it would have been a Kodak moment.
“Besides some close-to-home sightseeing, the highlight of May was visiting my hairstylist and replacing my car that was written-off in a March accident; in June it was going to a restaurant and being greeted like long lost friends; in July I was excited to visit the bank to check my account to make sure the promised federal payment had been deposited; and August was spending a short time, at a distance, seeing family members who stopped by and visiting with others at a campsite.
“We waited with anticipation through June, July and August for the work to begin and end on watermain replacement on our block. Those months came and went and I tried to make bet with anyone who would listen that the work would begin just in time to disrupt back-to-school days at our neighbourhood school.
“No one took my bet and if they had, they would have lost and I would have been a few dollars richer. I don’t want to second guess the folks responsible for the scheduling but I would certainly like to hear the rationale for ripping up the school’s street, adding more stress for the start of the school season.
“The summer of 2020 will indeed be one to remember, or perhaps one to forget. And with my memory the way it is, forgetting might not be such a stretch of the imagination.
“Alaska? Now who said I wanted to drive to Alaska? Hasn’t Johnny Horton already been there?”
Happy school year and be careful out there.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
