Endless Summer

It is pouring rain so I am inside rather than sitting on the Beloved Back Deck. Laurel is sitting across from me staring at her laptop as I write on mine. It looks like we're playing Battleship but we're not. The glare from the computer screens are the only lights in the room. There is movement downstairs from Maddie and Micah ... son of my comrade Bill Berry, not the former drummer for R.E.M. but the other one who went to Seminary with me and then everywhere else. Micah and his beautiful wife Mary-Catherine are watching Goddess and Winston, the little gay dog, while we're gone. Which begs a question: If its raining on the island where you live ... what do you do? We're going to the Bahamas. It is strictly for the girls and their education so I think its tax deductible. They've never been anywhere. I think this is because they had the incredible misfortune of God choosing Houghton, New York for them to live. It's the western part of the state and nobody lives there except Christians who mostly keep to themselves. The biggest hobby there is talking about each other. So we've made a firm commitment to show them the ways of the world. We started by taking them to the Den of Iniquity known as Daytona Beach. They liked it so much we took them back so they could sin some more. Now they need to progress to advance sinning so we're off to the Bahamas. I mean most kids learn about sinning at school. That's where they pick up cussing, exposing body parts, smoking in the bathroom and kissing on the playground. After school they learn about playing Doctor and such. I'd rather the girls learn these things under parental supervision like Jeremy, Kristen and Chelsea did. They all turned out good so I figure it'll work for Mad, Laurel and Cass too. Now that I think about it, I also learned about sinning at Church. I did ... making out in an empty Baptismal Pool at the Port Wentworth First Baptist Church and the best place for parking in Garden City, Georgia was between the sanctuary and the educational buildings of the Methodist Church. I make myself a note to take them to Bar Church when we return which is the weekly gathering of really good sinners on Tybee. Good times! Anyway ... I hate the rain on a summer day. I want an endless summer. It's been a freaking good one so far. Just like last summer was ... one party after another with the Carnival of Friends. But this summer ... I'm a parent of young children again. I have responsibilities and need to get to work raising those babies. "Surf's Up!" I yell at Laurel. She shakes her head and continues watching The Brady Bunch.