Slice of summer

Autumn makes me think. Spring makes me feel. Winter makes me numb. Summer makes me…me.

Summer smells like cut grass at sundown. It looks like a teenage girl’s windblown sundress. It feels like sweat on the back of my neck. It sounds like the Beach Boys in a box-fan cooled room.

Summer is my childhood and it tastes like watermelon.


Tonight’s watermelon (more from our day on my Flickr account)

Today was a baseball game with the family, followed by two pounds of shrimp from Fresh Market, and a big watermelon before bed time. The boy begged for it and, despite the lateness of the hour, I obliged. I cut a slice for myself and felt the juice run down my face.

I was eight years old on my grandma’s back porch. It was five minutes of innocence for a thirty-something guy far removed from such carefree times.

There are more reasons than I will list to enjoy being a parent. The most selfish?

It lets me be a kid again.

Brad Willis

Brad Willis is a writer based in Greenville, South Carolina. Willis spent a decade as an award-winning broadcast journalist. He has worked as a freelance writer, columnist, and professional blogger since 2005. He has also served as a commentator and guest on a wide variety of television, radio, and internet shows.

You may also like...

2 Responses

  1. Strawberry Shortcake says:

    Hey Otis – lovely post – really made me smile
    🙂

  2. MGM says:

    Guess I missed out. As much as I’ve been aching for a good slice of watermelon, I haven’t bought one for fear they won’t be very good yet. I’ll have to be getting me one of those real soon.

    I had my first corn on the cob for the season, if that counts for anything (it wasn’t very good yet, though–should’ve gone for the melon instead!)