Hot Summer Days

Lately where I live has turned out to be hotter that what I had wished for. I love the sunny days but I do not like the hot and humid hot Summer days. You can drink all the cold water you can find, and the heat will still find you. You can be under the coolest shade, but the humidity will take you in. Nothing seems to work, nothing seems to take the heat away!

It is in days like this that I think of the cold Winter days which I anxiously await. Believe me, I will not be complaining then about wanting warmer days. Why? Because I will have my blanket and hot cocoa with me and everything will be alright. =)

Smile, greater days will come.

Friendship

     I’ve been meaning to write this for a few days now. As some of you may know Friendship Day was last Sunday and it was my first year saying, “Happy Friendship Day”.

     We have many friends, technology has given us an  opportunity to extend our friendship circles with chatting and networking with people from all over the world. This got me thinking of how loosely we use the word ‘friend’. Of course you can say that there are many definitions of ‘friend’ and I would agree with you on that.

     What has come to my attention lately is how many people I refer to as ‘friends’ when in reality I have a select few who I would consider to be my actual friends. These are people that I’ve known for some time, wonderful people that have been with me during times of achievements and times of tears. These are the people that I trust, for me to trust someone is a big deal. When I think of them they never ask for anything in return (except a cookie here and there), they’re always there for me, always.

     There are times that I feel selfish because I feel like I’m always bugging them like mosquitos on a summer’s eve. Not to mention the times my bad mood gets the best of me while I’m with them. But you know, they stay with me even if only to tell me, “wench, get over it”, but hey that actually works.

     I’m not an easy person to understand, I’m sure my own friends don’t understand me sometime but boy do they try. I’ve heard many say that they have the best friends in the world, maybe in their own little worlds. Me? I claim to have the best friends anyone can ask for and here are a some reasons why:

1.     You ask your friend to make you cookies but they end up as “pookies” (a giant burnt crispy pancake looking blob of what was supposed to be a cookie) but you eat them anyway because they’re “pookies”.
2.     Your friend volunteers to help you stand on your hands by holding your legs. It’s not their fault you look funny, so they let go and you fall on your head leaving you with bruises and aches for many days.
3.     Your friend lets you throw ice cubes at their head. Did I mention water balloons? Oh and they also let you win games to make you feel like you feel good.
4.    When your friend joins you on a mission to scare people off elevators.
5.    When your friend joins you for a doughnut that you stuff with candy, drink chocolate milk and have ice cream on a winter’s day all in under ten minutes. Did I mention sugar crash?
6.   When you fall on your face after chasing a squirrel to have your friend laugh at you till they cant breathe no more and ask you an hour later if you’re ok.
7.   When you feel like making a fool of yourself by dancing like an idiot on the sidewalk of a big street. Oh and your friend doesn’t wan you to be the only dork in the city that carks honk at.
8.    When you go on a 4 hour trip by bus (when it takes 20 mins by car) to go to a mall (when you can go to a mall 5 mins away) on the hottest day of the year but your friend doesn’t want you to be the only dehydrated lunatic in the state.
9.    When you talk about cheese and your friend understands you. You know, because cheese is not cheese or cheese.
10.    When your friends bring up that one thing you said in high school that made everyone turn to look at you (which you’re still trying to explain why you said it in the first place).
11.    When your friend didn’t care how cold it was outside because they wanted to see a shooting star with you.
12.    When you talk with your friends for hours and hours and yet you can think of a million things to keep talking about.
13.    When you or your friends get you addicted to something e,g Facebook, games, etc.
14.    When you and your friends create “code words” and you laugh when other people say those words and you or your friends say “You don’t get it.”
15.    When your friend thinks what you’re thinking in a very scary way, e.g. dressing almost if not exactly alike, saying the same things, etc.
16.    When your friend says they will: throw a shoe at you, poke you, kick you, or even eat you when you say something lame.
17.    When you get cheered for leaving Quack Quack town, and hugged if you return. Just for knowing what Quack Quack town is.
18.   When you have a friend who will listen to your problems, even if your friend is the problem.
19.   For smiling and finding some sick/weird/silly/smart way of making you smile/laugh when you are more emo than emo Elmo.
20.  When your friend is not just a friend but considered to be your family.

     It doesn’t have to be August 2nd to say Happy Friendship Day. If you have a wonderful friend let them know how great they are. Be creative! At the very least send them an email with some things on why they are great and important to you. Might not be the biggest or brightest thing but it I bet it will make them smile. Hey that’s something they’ll remember and cherish.

Smile because you have a friend.

-Casper

Clouds

     As usual I checked the weather report before going to school, possible showers. For us in California the weather report should might as well announce that the sky is about to fall since most of us seem to panic just knowing that rain is on the way.

     I love the rain, clouds, the whole winter thing. Ever since I was little I would sneak out to run around only to have my mother bring me back in the house, followed by some “you’ll get sick”, “are you insane?” etc. She would tell me about every possible bad scenario that could happen to me if I went out in the rain. It’s not that I wanted to be a bad child or be rebellious (not consciously). I just wanted to look at the clouds, I wanted to feel the rain drops fall on my hair, I wanted to jump on the puddles. I understand why my mother would get mad, she cared about my well being and of course didn’t want to clean up my muddyful mess. But I had fun doing that, it made me happy.

     I remembered this and more on my way to school, the clouds looked beautiful as they paraded across the sky. I remember laying down on the grass to let my imagination take over. I would see animals, castles, and words in the sky. Those were beautiful times, happy memories of my childhood. How long has it been since I’ve done that? Years. Can’t exactly say how many but it sure feels like it’s been a long time.

     Sometimes I wonder if it would be the same? When I was younger I had less things to worry about, less things to think about. I would lay there and just look at the clouds and their formations as they moved across the sky. What would happen if I tried that now? Would it be the same or would my everyday thoughts prevent me from having a wonderful time like I used to? I think a lot on a daily basis, my life is no longer worry free as it used to be. I can’t recall any time in the near past were I’ve spent time alone or doing something I enjoyed without thinking of things, just things.

     For now I continue to watch the clouds, just not the same goal in mind. I don’t see castles in the sky the way I used to, but I do see something I like, clouds and that makes me happy. Funny how sometimes the little things that many of us take for granted are the very things that make some of us smile.