I came hobbling into the house from the backyard, slowly making my way to the kitchen sink, when my son Alex came in the room and looked at my dirt covered hands.

“What have you been up to?” he asked.

“I just finished planting the 60 daffodil bulbs your Dad and I bought a few weeks ago.” I turned on the water and tested it to see if it was warm enough before soaping up my hands. “I can’t believe how sore my back is from crawling around planting them.”

Alex looked confused. “Didn’t Dad dig all the holes for you?”

I got the nail brush from under the sink and began scrubbing my fingernails. “He did, but that was a few weeks ago.” I stopped scrubbing and rinsed my hands. “They were all filled in with leaves from the few bad storms we just had.” I turned my leg so that he could see the wet, dirt caked knees of my jeans. “I felt like I was playing a one sided game of Marco Polo where I was calling out but no one was answering as I felt around looking for where the holes were!” I could see there was still dirt under my nail so I soaped them up again.

Alex laughed. “I’m still going to say Dad had the harder part, digging 60 holes with a post hole digger.”

I began shaking my head. “I’m not saying your Dad’s part wasn’t hard.” I examined my fingernails again, making sure all the dirt was gone before I turned off the water. “But he considers that his workout.” I reached over and tore off some paper towels. “I, on the other hand, prefer my workouts to not include me crawling around in woods.” I dried off my hands and tossed the paper towels in the garbage before twisting at the waist to loosen the tension in my back. “Ouch!”

Alex patted me on the shoulder. “Just keep thinking about how nice the yard will look next spring.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe that will take your mind off how your back feels right now.”

I turned around to look out the kitchen window. “That’s true.” I could see the patches where fresh dirt had been smoothed over the newly dropped bulbs along both sides of the path. “Now, lets hope we don’t get any critters digging them up this winter.”

Alex pointed to one of the areas I’d just planted and began to laugh. “What do you think that squirrel is thinking about doing?”

I looked over to where Alex was pointing and saw a squirrel, with an acorn in his mouth, began digging at one of my newly planted spots. “Oh, no you don’t!” I cried as I headed for the back door.

Alex was still laughing. “What are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to cover the spots with some leaves and sticks!” I opened the door and began stomping my foot on the porch. “Shoo!” I called, as the squirrel looked over at me and didn’t move. I charged down the steps clapping my hands. “I said get going!”

As I got closer the squirrel scampered off with the acorn still in his mouth.

“Go hide your acorns somewhere else!” I called to him as I began kicking leaves and sticks over the spots.

Alex had come out on the deck to watch me.

Once I was done I began walking back to the porch. “A little camouflage might do the trick.” I said as I began to climb up the steps.
“Well, if you think that worked, I wouldn’t turn around and look if I were you.”

I stopped mid-way up the steps and sighed. I didn’t bother to turn around. “He’s back?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe a nice hot shower will make you feel better.”

I sighed again as I went into the house and headed for my bathroom. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the spring.”

I was in bed, half asleep, when I heard our bedroom door open.

“Are you going to work?” my husband Steven whispered to me.

That had me bolt upright. “What?” I looked over at the clock on my bedside table. “Oh my gosh! I should have been up an hour ago!”

“I was wondering what was going on.” Steven stepped out of my way as I ran across the room to the bathroom.

“I can’t believe it!” I cried through the closed bathroom door. “I never heard the alarm go off on my phone!” I was splashing water on my face hoping that would help wake me up.

“That’s because you left your phone out in the living room last night.” Steven called through the door. “I heard the alarm going off when I went into the kitchen to make some more coffee.”

I came out of the bathroom and raced over to the closet. “I’m glad I showered last night!” I pulled the closet door opened and quickly grabbed the outfit I’d laid out the night before. “I’m supposed to be walking out the door in five minutes!” As I began pulling off my pajamas Steven headed for the bedroom door.

“I’ll make you a cup of tea to go!”

“Oh my gosh! You’re a life saver!” I called to him.

Once my clothes were on I was back in the bathroom to put my contacts in and make-up on. I realized I could simultaneously brush my hair and teeth, but looking in the mirror while I was accomplishing it wasn’t a very pretty sight.

Putting my shoes on as I hopped down the hall I saw Steven pouring my tea into a to-go cup. “You’re the best!” I said as I opened the refrigerator and pulled out the lunch I’d made for myself the night before. “This daylight standard time stinks!”

Steven was putting the lid on my cup as I tossed my lunch into my insulated lunch bag and opened the freeze to get the ice packs.

“Remind me, why are we still doing daylight savings time?”

Steven shook his head as he handed my my tea. “I have no idea.”

I grabbed the car keys off the counter, picked up my work bags from the foyer as Steven handed me my lunch bag and opened the front door for me.

Getting a quick kiss on the cheek I was out the door and headed for my car.

“Are you going to need a coat?” Steven called from the front door.

In my hurry out the door I hadn’t realized how chilly it was. “I’ll come back in for one. Let me put my things in the car.” I turned back to the car and saw that the windshield had a thin layer of ice on it. “Oh, come on!” I cried. “It’s not even winter yet!”

Tossing my things in the back seat I opened the front door, turned on the car and blasted the defroster.

As I walked back to the house, tea cup still in my hand, Steven handed me my coat. “Do you want to come back inside and wait for the windshield to defrost?”

I took my coat, slipping my arms through the sleeves. “I think I’ll just sit in the car.” I shook my head and took a sip of my tea. “Sitting in the cold might help wake me up some more.”

“Try and have a good day.” Steven said as I walked back to the car.

“It sure isn’t starting out very promising.” I sighed.

It had been a busy weekend morning and my son Alex and I were just finishing up our walk. As we headed back to our car I realized I hadn’t been to the grocery store yet so there was nothing in the house to eat for lunch.

I turned to Alex as I clicked my key fob to open the car doors, “Do you feel like stopping at McDonald’s for lunch?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, that sounds good.”

As we got to the end of the drive-thru line I looked at all the cars ahead of us. “Well, I guess we’re not the only people who need a trip to the grocery store.”

We inched our way up to the menu board, placed our order, paid, and collected our food. I drove around to the back of the parking lot and parked.

Alex handed me my cheeseburger from the grease spotted bag. Unwrapping it I took a bite and began shaking my head. “I don’t know what they put in these burgers but they always taste so good.”

I reached over and took the paper sack of french fries out of the bag along with a few packets of ketchup for dunking. Spreading the cheeseburger wrapper on my lap I poured the fries on it and was ready to open the packet of ketchup when I noticed a huge squirrel sitting next to our car.

“Holy smokes! Would you look at the size of that one!” I pointed to the squirrel as it slowly made it’s way to the garbage can and climbed through the hole that had been eaten in it. It’s head popping out a few seconds later with a french fry hanging out of its mouth.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a squirrel that fat!”

Alex looked over and shook his head. “What do you expect? It’s a McDonald’s squirrel.”

That made me stop mid-way to opening the ketchup packet and instead I dropped it back in my lap.

“I never thought about that!” I looked back at the chubby squirrel who was now sitting on his hind legs quietly munching away on the leftover fry. “The squirrels at our house are all razor-thin.”

“Of course they are.” Alex popped another fry in his mouth. “That’s because they have to hang from the bottom of our bird feeders and do stomach crunches to be able to reach the seeds!”

Just then another chubby squirrel came waddling through the parking lot making his way to the garbage can buffet.

I took another bite of my burger but it wasn’t tasting as good as my first bite. I looked down at my lap full of fries and back at my rotund friend trying to squeeze his body back through the hole in the garbage can and began to feel my hunger disappear.

I looked over at Alex, “You want my fries?”

Alex looked confused. “But you haven’t had any.”

I pointed to the garbage can where back half of the squirrel was still trying to get into the hole. “Lost my appetite for fast food after watching that!” I picked up the fry filled cheeseburger wrapper and dropped it back in the bag before I started the car. “I think I’ll head home and see if there’s some salad leftover from last night.”

I was about to walk out my front door, carrying all of my work bags, when I noticed my beautiful purple chrysanthemums pots, at the bottom of my front steps, laying on their side with half of the flowers chewed off.

“Oh, come on!” I cried as I dropped my bags in the hall and went to pick up the pots.

My son Alex must have heard me cry out. He came to the already open the front door. “What’s wrong?”

I was picking up one of the pots. Broken flowers were all around the bottom of the plant. “Stinking mum nibblers!” I cursed under my breath.

“What?” Alex walked down the steps to see what I was talking about.

“Look!” I pointed to the area where the flowers had been eaten. “I thought the deer didn’t like chrysanthemums!”

I walked over to the other pot and tipped it upright. “Can you go in the kitchen and get a pair of scissors for me?”

“Sure.” Alex went back in the house.

I stuck my finger into the soil to see if they needed a drink. “Nope. You’re all good.”

Alex came back out and handed me the scissors.

“Thanks.” I began snipping off all the broken stems. Once I had a handful of mums I looked over at Alex and shrugged my shoulders. “At least it will make a nice bouquet for the dining room table.”

I began turning the pots around so the nibbled side was up against the house and the flowers were once again facing the street.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Alex asked.

I was confused. “I’m turning them so we can see the flowers.”

“Or, are you turning them so the deer can reach those flowers now?”

I sighed as I shook my head. “I didn’t think about that.” I looked down at the flowers. “I guess I could leave them like this during the day then spin them around after dinner.”

“If you remember.” Alex said as he followed me into the house.

“That’s true.” I reached for a glass and filled it with water before plopping my fistful of flowers in it. “There! It’s beautiful!” I placed it on the table and looked over at Alex. “I don’t know why they have to eat my flowers now. Why can’t they just be happy emptying my bird feeders every night?”

Alex looked out the kitchen window at the feeders. “They emptied them too.”

“Well, now they’re just being pigs!”

I went to the back door to get the bird seed when I stopped and looked at my watch. “I don’t have time to fill them right now.” I went back to the front hall where I’d dropped my bags. “I wanted to be in work early today.” I picked up my bags and headed for the door. “I’ll fill them when I get home.”

Alex opened the door for me. As I was stepping out I looked across the street. Two deer were in our neighbor’s back yard. The noise of the door opening must have startled them because they had both stopped what they’d been doing and were looking over at us.

“Stinking mum nibbles.” I said under my breath.

Alex laughed. “It might not have even been those two.”

I shook my head. “No. It was them.” I looked back at Alex. “I can see their guilt from here.”

My husband Steven and our son Alex and I were walking into the house after an afternoon visit with Steven’s brother and his family.

“I love visiting Liz and Donny!” I dropped the two packages of parsley seeds on the coffee table. “I feel like Donny’s our own family horticulturist.” I was still nibbling on the blade of garlic chive I’d broken off one of their plants. “I’m feeling inspired!”

Steven started to laugh as he began turning on the lights in the living room. “Exactly what are you inspired to do?”

“Plant a full herb garden next year!” I picked up the parsley seeds. “And I’ll start with these.” I began looking at the back of the packet. “Wow, I can’t find anything written in English on here.” I raised my eyebrows as I looked back at Steven. “That must mean they’re really good!” I looked again. “Oh, wait there’s some English next to the United Kingdom flag.”

I handed the packet to Steven. He looked at the packet, nodded his conformation, then handed it back to me.

“I also want to get some of this garlic chive.” I looked over at Alex holding up the blade that was still in my hand. “Did you taste any of this?”

Alex shook his head. “Not a fan of garlic.”

I sighed. “Oh yeah.” I shrugged my shoulders. “We’ll get regular chives and garlic chives!” I went over to the kitchen window and looked out on our deck. The sun was just beginning to set as I pointed to a few pots still out there. “I still have some mint and some parsley that I’d gotten for the monarch butterflies a few months ago.”

Steven stood next to me and looked out the window. “What happened to the pot basil we had?”

I looked over at him and shrugged my shoulders. “Well, the basil started out strong but then I kind of forgot to water it.”

Steven shook his head as he went over to the cabinet to get a glass then went to the refrigerator to fill it with water. “I’m not feeling much hope for this herb garden next year.”

I ignored him and asked, “What was the name of that vine that Donny pulled those little tiny berries from. Remember it tasted just like kiwi?”

“I think it was actually called a kiwi vine.”

I snorted a little laugh. “Well, that’s appropriate.” I looked over at Alex again. “I don’t think you got one, but they were delicious!” I looked back at Steven. “How about we get one of those too!” I pointed to the side of the yard where our cyclone fence was. “We can plant it over there. We could cover up the ugly fence and have delicious fruit at the same time!”

Steven looked confused. “Didn’t Donny say the birds got to them before he got a chance to pick any of them?”

“Well, maybe we’ll have better luck.”

Steven raised his eyebrows, a surprised look on his face. “Donny works in his garden every day and you can’t remember to water your basil.” Steven took a drink of water then shook his head. “Who do you think has a better chance of beating the birds to a harvest.” Steven place his glass in the sink and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

I looked over at Alex. “Well, at least your Uncle Donny has faith in me.”

Alex came over and patted me on the shoulder. “I have faith in you, too.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I looked back at Steven then walked over to the coffee table, picked up the packet of seeds and started shaking them. “Just you wait and see! It’s going to be awesome!”

“Don’t forget your water bottles!” my son Alex called from the kitchen as I was headed out the front door for work.

“Oh, for the love of…” I put my bags down and went back to the kitchen to pick up my two insulated water bottles from the counter. “I just finished filling them too!”

“Maybe you should slow down.” Alex looked at the clock on the stove. “You’re not late are you?”

“No.” I sighed. “I just feel like I have so much stuff to bring to work everyday!” I tucked the water bottles under my arm and went to get my bags. “You know when I was a kid no one walked around carrying water bottles.” Alex had followed me to the front hall as I reached down and scooped up my bags. “When did everyone get so obsessed with keeping hydrated?”
Alex laughed. “You never drank water when you were a kid?”

I adjusted the water bottles under my arm as I reached for the door knob. “Not like this. When you were playing outside, if you got thirsty, you took a sip from the garden hose.”

Alex looked surprised. “Did you really drink from a hose?”

I laughed as I put the water bottles on the side table and readjusted my two shoulder bags then reached for my lunch bag.

“Here, let me help you.” Alex took the water bottles and lunch bag and we headed out the door together. “Well?”

“Well, what?” I took my keys out of my purse and tapped the key fob to unlock the car.

“Did you really drink from a garden hose?”

“Yuck, no!” I tossed my bags in the back seat. “I didn’t, but a lot of kids did.”

“That’s gross.” He handed me the water bottles and I tossed them on the front seat. “I thought so, too. When I was a kid when you got thirsty you went in and got a drink! It was easy.”

“But once you’re thirsty you’re already dehydrated.” he reminded me.

“Well we didn’t know that then.” I climbed in the car, tossing my lunch bag on the floor. “Besides it never seemed to bother you when you were younger. I never packed water bottles for you when you went to school.”

“That’s because we all used the water fountains in school.”

I looked over at him with a horrified look on my face. “Oh, my gosh! You did?”

“Of course we did.” Alex shook his head and laughed. “I can still taste the water in school, it always had that nice hint of lead when you drank it.”

“Those things were filthy!” I cringed as I thought about it. “Every kid in school sticking their mouths on it!”

Alex reached in the door and patted me on the shoulder. “So that’s the reason why all the kids are bringing water bottles to school now.”

“Oh man, I’m so sorry.” I shook my head. “But no one was talking about staying hydrated when you were little.”

“I forgive you.” He stepped back so I could close the door. He tapped the roof of the car as I started to pull out of the driveway. “Stay hydrated!”

My son Alex came into the kitchen as I was busy beating some eggs in a bowl.

“Oh, good! You’re up!” I held out the bowl for him to see. “Do you want some eggs for breakfast?” I went over to the sink to peek inside the watering can I was filling to see if the water had reached the top before I turned off the water.

Going back over to the stove I pushed the basket of dirty laundry out of the way with my foot before looking over at him to get his answer.

“Um.” He was looking around the kitchen where the dishwasher door was open and the clean dishes were halfway put away. “Sure.” He went over to get a cup out of the cabinet.

I reached over to grab another egg from the carton, cracked it into the bowl and began scrambling the mixture some more.

“I’m glad you’re up!” I poured the eggs into the pan before reaching down to scoop up the laundry basket. “Can you watch the eggs while I start a load of laundry?”

“Okay.” He picked up the spatula next the the pan and stood ready.

“Great! I’ll be right back!” I went downstairs to start the first load of the day.

A few minutes later I was back and took the spatula out of his hand. “Do you want to pour us some orange juice?”

I reached over to push down the toast that was already waiting in the toaster.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he went over to the refrigerator to take out the orange juice.

“Sure, why?” I reached into the dishwasher and put two glasses on the counter for him.

“You seem…” he seemed to be searching for the right word. “Busy.”

“Hey, I’ve got a lot to get done.” I reached back into the dishwasher to pull out two plates for the eggs. “Oh, wait!” I looked over at him. “Did you want cheese on your eggs?” I was headed to the refrigerator.

Alex caught me by the arm. “I’m good. I don’t need cheese.”

“Oh, okay.” I went back to the stove just as the toast popped up from the toaster. Grabbing the toast I quickly tossed the slices on the plates. “Ouch.” I quickly began waving my hand. “That was a little bit too hot.”

Alex was shaking his head as he went over to the table carrying the two glasses of orange juice. “You’ve got to slow down.” He put the glasses down and turned around to see me holding my tea cup and drinking the last of my tea.

“Wait a minute!” Alex was still shaking his head.

“What?” I picked up the plates with the eggs and toast on them and brought them over to the table.

“How many cups of tea have you had this morning?”

I put the plates down and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Two or maybe it was three.” I went over to the refrigerator. “Do you want butter or jelly on your toast?”

“Oh, it was definitely three!” Alex started to laugh. “I’ll take butter, please.”

I reached in the refrigerator and took out the butter.

“What do you mean it was definitely three?” I was headed back to the table when I walked past the sink to see the filled watering can sitting there. “Oh man!” I handed Alex the butter. “I’ve got to get the mums watered.” I grabbed the watering can and headed for the back door. “They’re starting to get droopy and mums aren’t as forgiving as some other plants.” I opened the door and looked over at Alex. “I’ll be right back. Start eating without me!”

As I walked out the door I could hear Alex saying, “Oh, it was definitely three.”

I was sitting in a chair in our living room across from my son Alex who was laying on the couch.

“Do you remember when we were in the woods yesterday and that chipmunk was talking to us?” I asked him.

Alex laughed. “You mean the one where you were saying, ‘Hey little buddy you seem a little upset’ to him?” He had tried to imitate my voice.

“Yeah. That’s the one!” I had to laugh at his imitation. “We were only a few feet apart and we even made eye contact!” I sighed. “I thought maybe he was upset that the acorns are so big this year and he was having trouble getting them into his little cheek pouches.”

Alex shook his head as he sighed. “Okay. What ever you say.”

“Well, I just found a video that you can hear their different calls.” I held my phone up and hit start.

We listened to the first call. I hit stop. “That one’s called a chip-trill.”

“Nope. It wasn’t that one.” Alex said as he adjusted the pillow under his head.

I nodded. “I agree.” I hit the play button again. We listened to the next one.

After the call was done I hit stop. “That one’s called chipping.”

Alex shook his head again. “Nope. Not that one either.”

I hit the play button again. This time we heard an agitated, quick and deep sound.

“That’s it!” I cried.

“Yup.” Alex was nodding his head. “So what does that one mean?”

I looked at my phone. “It’s called chucking. They make that call when they’re facing an aerial predator.” I couldn’t help but frown as I looked over at Alex. “We weren’t predators!”

“We were to him.” Alex had to laugh. “So, while you’re trying to have a long conversation with him what he was actually telling you was he wanted both of us to get lost!”

I sighed. “Well, live and learn.” I put the phone down on the arm of the chair. “Well at least I’ve learned a second language.”

My husband Steven had just come into the room. “You’re learning a second language too?” He sounded surprised. “I’ve been doing an online class, learning Spanish.”

I smiled as I held up the phone. “I’ve already mastered my second language, chipmunk!”

Steven rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “Oh, you were having one of those conversations.” He continued into the kitchen.

“Hey, I’ve had learning a second language on my ‘bucket list’ for some time now.” I called out to him. “And BOOM! I can take that one off my list!” I dropped the phone back on the arm rest of my chair.

I looked over at Alex who was slowly just shaking his head.

“Hey, what can I say.” I sighed as I leaned back in my chair. “At my age it’s just easier to learn animal and bird languages than it is to learn human.”

My husband Steven and our son Alex and I were walking down the path of one of our favorite parks when I spotted what looked like a small tree.

“I bet you that’s a black walnut tree.” I said as I walked off the path to get a better look.

“Nope.” Steven said. “It looks like a locust tree to me.”

I looked over at Alex. “What do you think?”

“I think you should look it up on your app.”

I smiled. “Good answer.”

I pulled out my phone. “Ever since I downloaded this app I’m obsessed with names of plants!”

I got closer to the tree and snapped the picture. As I walked back to the path I watched as the dial spun around ticking away as it tried to identify the plant.

“So…” Steven said.

I made a small gasp as the picture popped up on the screen. “It’s poison sumac!” I turned the phone around for them to see.

“Really?” Alex took a closer look. “Did you touch the plant?”

“I don’t know!” Just then my nose got itchy. I went to itch with the sleeve of my shirt when I stopped. “Did either of you see me brush against it?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I really wasn’t watching you.”

Steven shook his head. “I wasn’t either.”

“Great.” I went over and itched my nose against Steven’s sleeve.

“Hey!”

“Well, I can’t use mine!” I cried. “I don’t know if I touched it.”

“How bad can it be?” Alex asked.

“Poison sumac is worse than poison ivy and poison oak!” I looked around. “Why would a park let poison sumac grow!”

Steven laughed. “I’m pretty sure they’re not planting it. It just popped up.”

I looked down at my hands, still holding my phone. “Does anyone have any hand sanitizer?”

“Why would we bring hand sanitizer on a walk?”

“I don’t know.” I cried. “I just don’t want to get poison sumac!”

We began to walk again.

Steven looked over at me and saw that I was walking with my hands held away from my body still holding my phone. “Are you planning on walking like that for the rest of our walk?”

“Yup!” I could feel another itch coming on my forehead this time.

“Okay.” Alex turned around. “Let’s just go back to the car so you can use the hand sanitizer and we can go back to having a nice walk without you being so upset.”

Steven turned around with Alex.

“Thanks guys.” I sighed. “I was trying not to make a big deal out of this but…” I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s poison sumac.”

Alex started to laugh. “Walking like you’re in a zombie movie is definitely not making a big deal out of it.”

I looked over at Alex and gave him a withering look. “Poison sumac.”

I leaned closer to Steven. “Can you reach in my pocket and grab the keys? I don’t want…”

“I know.” Steven said as he got the keys out of my pocket. “Poison sumac.”

“Thanks guys.” I gave a small sigh. “Five minutes from now we’ll be back to a normal walk. I promise.”

Alex shook his head. “At least what’s normal for us.”

“Hey, Alex!” I called to my son. “You want to take a quick trip to the beach?” I was just finishing loading the dishwasher with all the dinner dishes.

Alex came out of his room, looking at his phone. “Sure. We have another hour before it gets dark.”

“Great!” I dropped the detergent pod in the slot, closed the door and turned it on. “Let me grab my keys and I’m ready to go!”

As we were driving to the beach we had our windows down enjoying the sounds of the cicadas buzzing their summer song.

“I’m going to miss that sound.” I sighed.

“What sound?”

“The cicadas, I just love that buzz.” I sighed again. “It’s so summer.”

“But it’s still summer.” Alex laughed. “Why do you always do that?”

“What?”

“Rush the season away. Last week you were saying you couldn’t believe it was already fall!”

“Well it’s fall to me.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Once school starts it’s fall.”

“Fall doesn’t start for another few days.” he reached over and patted me on the shoulder. “Would you please just try to enjoy the last few days of it?”

I had to laugh. “I’ll try.”

We were pulling up to the parking lot at the beach. As I climbed out of the car holding my sweatshirt I could feel a warm breeze blowing. “Hey, I’m not even going to need this!” I tossed the sweatshirt back in the car and locked the doors.

As we were walking to the beach I couldn’t help but stop and slowly inhale. “I just love the smell of the ocean.”

Alex nodded. “It is nice down here tonight.”

We walked along the path through the sand dunes. Once we were through the dunes Alex and I quickly scanned up and down the beach.

“I can’t believe more people aren’t down here.” Alex noticed. “It’s beautiful out.”

“Shhh…” I looked over at him. “It’s local summer.” I whispered. “It’s our turn to enjoy the beach.”

Alex laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’s not a secret that it’s nice down here this time of year.”

I shrugged my shoulders again as we got closer to the shoreline and sat down on the sand. “I have no idea why more people aren’t here.” I looked over at Alex smiled. “But I love it!”

I reached down and picked up a seashell that was partially buried in the sand and held it out for him to see. “Not as good as the ones you usually find but it’s still pretty nice.”

Alex nodded as I slipped it in my pocket. We both got quiet as we listened to the waves crashing against the shoreline and the seagulls squawking to one another as they ran around the sand looking for food.

I took another deep breath. “I really do love it here.”

“Yeah, me too.” Alex reached over and patted me on the shoulder. “I’m glad to see you’re still enjoying your summer.”

“At least for a few more days.” I nodded my head and looked over at him. “Maybe we’ll even have a really nice Indian summer this year!”

“See, that’s a better way to think!”

We listened to the waves for a few more minutes.

“But I still have to go back to school again tomorrow.” I grumbled.

“And the real you is back!” Alex laughed.