Summer ’05

The summer of 2005 taught me a lot of lessons that will stay with me throughout life. But no week taught me more about what I have, then that one weekend spent in Parksville. When I think back to my favorite and most memorable summer that week is the one that stands out, that the feeling of being there comes rushing back and an immediate tug in my heart is felt. A need to go back there one day.

Parksville, not one of the most glamorous cities out there. It’s no New York or L.A., their biggest store is Shoppers Drug mart and there isn’t even a mall in sight. When Lindsay and I arrived in this small town I wasn’t the happiest person. My parents dragged me away to this speck of a town and the only consolidation was my best friend suffering through this trip with me.

I apologized a bazillion times to her for dragging her along but she surprised me (as she often does) she looked at me like I was crazy and replied quickly “Im SO glad you brought me with you!” I stared back amazed. “I’ve been looking forward to this trip all summer” she chirped. And that happiness that shined through her got to me. I cheered up and ended up realizing that attitude can make or break a trip. That even spending a week in a boring place like Parksville could be just as good, if not better than spending a month in some exotic place far away from here.

That first night spent there was one that will forever stay in my mind. We were staying in a tent at a campground just outside of downtown Parksville. Our campsite led onto cliffs with a fat flowing river below, which would sing us to sleep as we snuggled into our sleeping bags. After dinner that night the campground would of seemed pretty boring and most people would just retire to their fancy motor homes and watch TV or play cards. Lindsay and me on the other hand, decided to explore the campsite. We found a playground nearby that sadly to say amused us for quite a while and then slowly worked our way up to the main office.

There we found a something that most people would overlook, that only to a child would this hold any significance. In the corner of the office we found a bucket of sidewalk chalk. Yes, sidewalk chalk. The excited look on Lindsay’s face made me excited too as we carried the new, brightly labeled bucket outside.

As Lindsay dug into the bucket and started to draw big, random drawings I just sat on the wooden porch of the office still warm from the now gone sun. She paused from an elaborate picture of a flamingo that didn’t look anything like a flamingo and looked up at me with her big bright blue eyes. “Why aren’t you drawing?” she asked innocently. I sighed and stared down at the thick green wad of chalk in my hand ” I don’t know what to draw” I answered. She smiled, shook her head and giggled “just draaaaw” she said ” it doesn’t matter what, no one cares if they look horrible”. I smiled back at her and dropped to my knees and started drawing a crocodile. She came over and started adding stuff “lets draw him eating Nathan” she blurts out and draws a crude stick person drawing of my boyfriend. I giggle and start adding more stuff.

After a while our goofy drawing covered most of the road in front of the office. We continued laughing and drawing until a younger boy came along and peered curiously at our silly pictures, he was about 10 years old riding his bike. “Do you wanna draw?” Lindsay asked him and the shy boy shook his head embarrassed. Lindsay shrugged and continued drawing and soon after another boy came along. She asked him and he accepted and started drawing a goofy picture of himself while Lindsay chatted with him teasing him about his picture and made the boy burst out in laughter. After a while two more kids came and joined in. I noticed the same boy that refused to draw still looking at us and I tossed him a chunk of pink chalk. He caught it easily and smiled at me. “Commmooon” I teased “you know your not too old for this” he looked down at his feet “besides” I said to him with a grin “only a man can draw with pink chalk”. He laughed shyly then dropped to his knees and started to draw with the other kids.

I looked over to my right and I saw Lindsay write in big bubble letters “friends” on the black pavement. I looked at her quizicly and she grinned her famous grin. She then wrote her name in perfect printing and the other kids followed and wrote theirs below her. I laughed and scrawled my name in loopy messy writing underneath and sat back down watching all the new friends laughing.

That night taught me a couple of lessons i’ll never forget. I realized that no matter how old you get you still always have time to be a kid. That inbetween all the school, sports and being grown up you should always put away some time to not care what anyone thinks, and just be a kid for a little while longer. I realized that we grew up too fast. The other important lesson I learned was how easy it is to make friends. If you put yourself out there and be nice people will react well to that. That’s why children make friends so easily, they aren’t afraid of being shot down. They put themselves out there, and I realized that the reason why Lindsay makes friends so easily is because she hasnt lost that child-like quality what so ever. And that was the most amazing lesson I learned that summer, the gift of having such a good friend who teaches you so much everyday.