The End is Near

I admit to using artistic license sometimes when writing my stories, but just a little and just sometimes. This story isn’t one of those times. Dear Reader, the end is indeed near, and I’m afraid I don’t know what I will do when it finally arrives. But I’m not the only one facing the end, there are many, many more. And if asked, all of them will say they are happy the end has finally come. I fear that I will be the only one who is sad. Confused? Join The Wife. She doesn’t understand me either.

It was this way growing up back on that old familiar street not so far away called Flamingo, and it is the same now. The real countdown to the end of school starts when everyone returns from Spring Break. As of this printing, students have only seventeen days left before the end of school, so if you don’t have your summer survival list completed you need to get started. What’s a summer survival list? 

Glad you asked.

First – make a visit to the giant food warehouse store, fill your cart up with every non-nutritional sweet snack you can find. If you have any boys, fill an additional cart – or two – just to be safe. This should get you through the first couple of weeks. By then the kids should be going to a week-long camp.

Second – while the kids are off at camp, you and yours can take that long overdue romantic vacation to some exotic location. Or you could spend the time at the house cleaning out the basement. Your choice. For me, there is a third choice, but that’s at the end of this story. Right now, we’re still in the middle. 

Third – be sure to double check the camp and romantic vacation reservations you made back in February. If you didn’t make those reservations, then this is going to be a very long summer for you and the kids. We too forgot one year, and the only way we survived was to take daily outings.

Fourth – daily outings are most important during the summer months. Especially if you’ve forgotten to book camps back in February. A trip to the Atlanta Zoo will keep the kids entertained with elevated rope courses and behind the scenes animal encounters. And with paved walking paths winding throughout the zoo, it makes for a perfect day trip to wear your kids out.

If elephants aren’t big enough for your little tikes, then a trip to Fernbank is for you. They can see dinosaurs, climb around the inside playpark, take in not one but two movies, and walk/run the Wild Woods trails outside. All the exhibits are educational, the kids will learn a lot, and it’s a whole day worth of fun.

If you want a really long day, take a trip to see Rock City, Ruby Falls, and the Tennessee Aquarium. Yes, it’s a three-hour drive, but totally worth it. Do Rock City first before it gets too hot, then go 400 feet underground to see the newly renovated Ruby Falls. The last time we did this, it had been over fifty years since my last visit, and I was thoroughly impressed. End the day by walking through either the fresh water or the ocean building of the aquarium. And before you go, let the kids play and get wet on the water steps alongside the ocean building. It’s a hidden gem not many know about and a tribute to the Trail of Tears which started in that area.

And if you’re too tired to drive back, dinner is an easy-walking block away from many of the riverside hotels. Also, you can catch a horse-drawn carriage and clop, clop your way along the tranquil riverside. With our two granddaughters, The Wife and I have enjoyed doing all the above so many times we have over 60,000 videos and pictures to remember it all. Sound like a travel agent, don’t I? Nope, just doing my best to help you survive the long summer break.

So, what am I so sad about? In seventeen days, all the kids will be out of school, and I will have to take the summer off from being a paraprofessional in kindergarten. (I know because they told me I would have to go home during the summer.) Fortunately, there is something that’ll occupy most of my summer: an operation on my left hand. Driving to and from the doctor’s office and physical therapy will keep me busy until we go back to school.

Don’t worry, Dear Reader, I’ve already written three weeks of columns for the start of the summer. What are they about? Well, all I can say now is that they tell a true-life mystery that, to date, only two people have solved – both go to Elementary School. 

Look out for the first story to be published on May 28^th.