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Summertime and the Livin' Is Easy... Or Is It?
From Enough, Summer 2004
By Richard Mahler
During summer, the familiar song lyric suggests, the livin' is easy. Days are long, the weather is warm, schools are closed, and annual vacations beckon. It's a time when kids play games, families hold reunions, and friends get together for backyard barbecues. Almost every community offers such enticing outdoor events as music concerts, art fairs, and cultural festivals. Even the heavens cooperate with meteor showers and other celestial light shows. All the ingredients are in place for a season of delights.
Or are they? For an increasing number of us, the lazy days of summer get too crazy to be fully enjoyed. Our jobs are so demanding that we can't give in to the joyful distractions of this special season. Some of us feel we can't afford, either financially or psychologically, to slow down. Statistics confirm that these days many Americans take shorter vacations -- or none at all. Thousands of workers accumulate salaried vacation days they don't use, and sometimes forfeit that paid time off altogether.
Meanwhile, our kids' schedules are booked to the point that we find ourselves shuttling frantically from one obligation to another. We may rush home from work, grab dinner on the run, and race off to watch a ball game or chaperone a social event. On weekends, there seems no end to the birthday parties, swimming lessons, and group outings where our presence (or chauffeuring service) is required.
What's wrong with this picture? In our search for the good life, we've forgotten how to play.
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