summertime

School's out, the nights roll in
Man, just like a long lost friend
You ain't seen in a while
You can't help but smile.
-Kenny Chesney, "Summertime"

The days have been hot, and the nights just as stifling. It's that time of year again, and summer is starting to truly kick in. On friday, nayhouse and I went to the pirate game. Even amidst the impeccably humid night, it was a good game and the pirates came out as victors. To top it all off, nayhouse got to tell this little annoying kid to shut up after the nationals scored two runs. We met up with bradburn and his brother and walked across the clemente bridge to the T station with them. The three of us(minus little bradburn) went back to nayhouse's place and shot pool until about 130. Saturday at work was pretty good. For about an hour, ron's nephew came in and we got to hang out with him. I left at 5 and went straight to nayhouse's grad. party. A lot of people that I hadn't seen in a long time were there. Some of them included matt vu, chas hoffman, ben bradley, sarah, po, and kathleen. We played pool for a little bit and then shot some basketball. Around 8 most of the crowd had cleared and we started a big game of pool basketball. The spontaneity of the game made it one of the most enjoyable moments of the summer. There were indescribable scrambles, great shots, and plenty of injuries to speak of. All in all, it was a great night. I played a quick game of pool but left around 12 to go home. Work on sunday was alright I guess. Drew(not my brother) and I got this big list of things that we're supposed to do every day from now on. I suggested a little burning of the papers after work and he concurred. After that, I went to rachel's grad. party. It was a very enjoyable time that was encapsulated by myself(to the approval of mr. snyder) hitting on two random girls named leah and valerie. We also threw frisbee and then I played smashball with nate and my brother's friends. It was a good workout and I left there around 9 to go to nayhouse's again. Pool basketball activities were planned, but there were a few additions to the lineup from the night before. Returning from the night before were myself, nayhouse, bradburn(effectively named "short stick"), schleicher, kathleen, sarah, and po. It was a fun game, but not as great as the saturday night game. Either way, a chance to relax after a long day of work and running after a frisbee is a good oppurtunity. At about 12, I went to skyview. I was tired and made several stupid calls, but I made a few good bluffs on pots and was able to take down a big one when I hit my straight on the turn and joe's brother made two pair. I cashed out for a little less than a buyin up, and considered it a good night. On monday, I woke up around 12 to play tennis with nayhouse and kevin. I played pretty well and the sweltering heat didn't downgrade my play one bit. Afterwards, I took drew and matt b to snyder and they hit and I hit balls to them. I completed another day of long running by playing some soccer with a couple of people. Later, leigh, bradburn, and I went out to 43 and say it in an immaculate time of day. The sun was just descending on the horizon and it looked spectacular over the gently rolling hills of southern pittsburgh. Even while I was driving, my gaze was often fixated upon that falling sun on the western sky. We decided to end the trip by going to EnP and received a call just after we ordered from kristin that she wanted me to come and get her. I complied and we got back to see that I got a double order of french toast because their computer was screwed up. Nayhouse called at the end of the meal and said that po, sarah, and himself were going back to his house and we were welcome to come over. Before that, the four of us went down to leland while waiting for the return of nayhouse. I saw mr. balzer, my pony coach there.
Bradburn: "Dude, is that the guy that used to hit you batting practice with like five cigarettes in his mouth?"
Me: "Yeah man, he's awesome."
We went to nayhouse's and played pool for awhile before leigh and kristin became restless. They went up to leigh's house and got sparklers and we had a mini bonfire in the jewish guy's backyard. We managed to not burn his house down and the two of them left shortly thereafter. I drove bradburn home and grabbed my suit and prepared for a third straight day of pool basketball. This time it was a mt lebo v baldiwn showdown in myself and nayhouse versus sarah and po. The game ended in a draw and we sat around the pool for awhile telling random stories until leaving around 1230. We dropped off po and sarah and got going towards home. On the way home, we rolled down the windows and listened as the wind whipped past our hair. Life was all good. It was summertime again.

mh