Labor Day always feels like an end of summer celebration to me. It’s a final goodbye to the lazy mornings, hot days, and long nights of the past couple of months. (Even though the blazing hot summer seems to continue right up until the first snowstorm of the year) Although autumn is clearly the superior season, summer has given me a lot to be thankful for:
Thanks for the water still stuck in my ear: There are many things I am not good at. (See also: tennis) Perhaps this is why when I find something I’m great at, I celebrate it even if it’s weird or unimportant. For example, the eye doctor I had growing up always told me I have amazing retinas. After every eye appointment, I took it upon myself to let every family member know that even though I am blind as a bat, MY retinas are incredible. (Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when I went to a new doctor this past year and the doctor didn’t use any words like “spectacular” or “marvelous” or “America’s Top Retina Model” and instead used words like “You can see our secretary for your payment” and “Please get out of the chair. We have other patients.”) Along with great retinas, another odd thing I am proud of is my underwater handstands. I can’t actually do a handstand on land, which is maybe why I’m pleased as punch that I can do one underwater. I always beat my siblings at handstand contests, and when Tyler and I went to the pool this summer I was eager to show off my skills. After coming up from the water, however, one of my ears was all plugged up. This didn’t worry me too much, because usually it drains out of my ear in an hour or two. Alas, a few hours later my ear was still plugged, and it felt like the entire Pacific Ocean, sea creatures and all, were residing in my ear canal. The next morning it felt like I was still underwater, with a bowling ball somehow lodged inside. I sadly realized I would need to call the doctor. How many people in their 20’s are calling their doctor because of an underwater handstand incident? Am I aging too quickly? How is someone mature enough to pay their bills and floss consistently for the two weeks leading up to a dentist appointment so they can claim they floss “all the time” calling for something seven year old Rachel was doing all summer? Luckily the doctor refrained from laughing, prescribed me with some medication, and I spent the rest of the summer going through a midlife crisis.
Thanks for the 40 Lost Tennis Sets: My family is a group of very casual tennis players. When I was growing up, we would go play on the summer holidays, like Memorial Day or the 4th of July, but I never played regularly enough to actually be any good. In fact, I didn’t even take the time to learn the scoring or rules until this year, as hitting the ball back and forth was good enough for me. This summer, my brother Tim and I decided we were going to play more often, so every morning we would walk over to the park and play some games. At the beginning I was truly awful, and I would only win one or two games against him. The more we played, the more I improved. I would go as far to say that I moved all the way from “tennis novice” to “inexperienced tennis player”. I started winning more games, but would still lose the set. As I started to get better, my goal was to win at least one set before the end of the summer. That’s how every Disney movie ends, right? Someone is incredibly untalented, they work hard, and they finally succeed during the big game, usually with a marching band and fireworks to accompany the win, along with a flash forward of the main character playing in the major leagues. Unfortunately, it turns out this aspect of my life is one of those sad dramas where there is no uplifting message and on your way home you accidentally knock your popcorn refill all over the front seat of your best friend’s car. I took Tim to a tie-breaker a couple of times, but I never was able to win an entire set. No marching band, no fireworks, but I still haven’t ruled out the idea of playing professionally. Not tennis of course, but ESPN now shows professional corn hole matches. So while I will continue to enjoy tennis, I think my professional career of corn hole may be taking off during the 2020 season.
Thanks for my continued world domination: In the end of July, Tyler and I were able to join my extended family in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for a family reunion. It was great to be able to see family, and I was able to slowly increase my army of followers as my adorable nephew decided he would name his new stuffed animal Rachel. We also hiked up Fish Creek Falls, which was fairly steep, and when we made it to the top I was completely exhausted, not wanting to take another step. As we turned around to begin the hike back, I saw my 80 year old grandpa hiking to the top with the same amount of energy a child has the night of Halloween. I’m not sure if I was more impressed with my grandpa or concerned that my hiking ability is declining as quickly as my ear.
All in all, it was a successful summer. Now that I have all the Hulu commercials memorized by heart, I’m officially ready for school to start.
