Thursday, June 25, 2009

Return of the Endless Summer

Four years ago I spent a summer in Surfside Beach, South Carolina with a friend from school. I waited tables, slept, and surfed through the summer with an indulgent deliberateness. Each day I was committed fully to that day's task. Whatever whim struck me.

Some days we devoted ourselves to the sea. Leaving before the sun to catch the tide. Paddling naively into storms. Soaking in the lull. Whether the world brought us dolphins and rays or the perfect ride - we were in it with all that we could muster.

Still, some days we sat around the duplex past noon. Scheming.

And still more were spent in air conditioned chain restaurants accepting the masses' "travel money" to fund our loafing.

The double shifts both in the steakhouse and along the shore were consuming. With the rest of the world crowded out by longboarding trips, South American soccer matches, and general whimsy - the days shimmered under the heat, blurring from linear to indistinct.

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Four years later, I am able to entertain a return of the endless summer, a more endless summer. After four months of South Carolina's oppressive 100-110 heat indexes, Kaitlin and I will leave one hemisphere's summer in search of another.

I cannot say now what the South American summer will bring. But the prospect of a desolate punta with only my mind to fill it is carrying me off before we've even left the ground.

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As for the latest, we are nearing the "one month" countdown before we leave Columbia. Soon we must begin depossessing ourselves. Giving away clothes and other nonessentials we have acquired.
I am holding the line at two car loads of "stuff." Clothes, books, and kitchenware. Only what can fit inside the car and above in a rack for the drive out West.
After the next week it will be crunch time. The apartment will begin to disolve and then before we know it we'll begin the month-long renovation of my parent's home in Lugoff.
By the time we're comfortable in Lugoff we'll be in the car, headed for the Rockies.
By the time we're comfortable there, we'll be on a plane for Buenos Aires.
And so on... to where?

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