Back sometime in May, I believe I declared this summer the SUMMER OF MIKE, where I would do lots of fun things, and just generally have a good time doing things on my own or with people. The last two summers have been, well, strange, to say the least, as the first one was a combo of living with the first pandemic summer/going through a pretty rough mental breakup, while 2021 was kinda the same for self inflicted reasons.
So how has the SUMMER OF MIKE been going? Has it lived up to expectations? Read on to find out!
If you don’t want to find out, please prepare your snarky comments!
1. I went into this summer thinking that I wasn’t going to even try to date. I had gotten out of a relationship that reached its natural conclusion, and did just want to take some time to myself. But, in late May, I got back in touch with Jeanine, a prior girlfriend, and we hit it off again, and we’ve been going out for about 2 months now. So, unexpected in all the best ways, and things are going very well, building on the strengths of the first time around, but this time, being more communicative and open with each other. So, that’s all very positive and a “feel good” part of this summer…
2. In May, I got to go down to see my dad/stepmother in Florida for a longish weekend, which was a lot of fun. These last two years have not been great for travel, so being able to get down to spend time together was a great accomplishment. A good time was had by all!
3. The end of May/start of June was a bit odd, with my jury duty service on a 2nd degree murder trial. It did throw me for a bit of a loop, as the realities of the case were sometimes emotionally difficult to process, mainly just how random life can be (for the victim in the case, and therefore, for all of us in life). But it was an experience that upon reflection, I would not trade for anything. I truly believe, as I stated at the time, in doing our ‘civic duty’ in serving on juries when called to do so, and I’m glad my work was able to be so flexible for the 11 or so days of work that I missed.
4. Jeanine and I have been able to hit two Broadway shows (American Buffalo and The Minutes), which were both very good, with The Minutes being my favorite of the two (although both were well worth seeing). We’ve been to two concerts together (The Musical Box, a Genesis tribute band; and the Ed Palermo Big Band), and both were great fun. We’ve been able to go out and about a lot more than we did in our first go round in late 2020/early 2021, which I think helps a lot with the actual development of the relationship, and it gives us something to both look forward to do together, and to talk about once we do it. We did go to a Star Wars fan event, which was basically some rich dude’s toy collection here in NYC, which was a bust, but we had fun joking about it, so we turn a negative into a positive!
5. I got to see friends Brian/In/Rowan down in the hometown, which is always a pleasure! I’ve also been able to hang out with friend Andy, and do podcast recording with Tom and Adam (who I also saw when we went to see The Musical Box!). Pre-Musical Box show, I also got to hang out with friend Andrew DeSpirito, and had dinner with Lou for the first time in a long time! I got to see the Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch live with Stacy Godfrey and her friend Nicole! This was in May, so perhaps a bit before the SUMMER OF MIKE officially began, but I got to see Jerry Marotta/Security Project on tour, and caught up with AJ Chippero who was out assisting on the road with them! All this is something not to take for granted after these past few years.
6. This may not seem like a big deal, but I’ve been able to get out to the movies, to see some new releases, and some revivals (Godzilla and The Thing!). As getting out to the movies is one of my main fun “get out of the apartment” activities to do, this has been a good summer on that front. I do like going to the shows that are reserved seating (to pick seats away from other humans!), and I do keep my mask on in general (I had Covid once, no need to get it again). So overall, it’s good to get that aspect of life going again.
7. And, of course, there’s the continued walking around the city I do, to keep myself sane and healthy. The walking I’ve been doing over the past two years has not just been good for physical health, but it has helped in general with feeling better about myself overall. I am, at heart, a creature of habit and routine, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to build this walking into a habit that has continued.
What does the rest of the summer hold? Traveling to Washington DC for a work conference in August, more outings with Jeanine, possible concert attendance with Tom (we still have to nail this down!), more activities around the city, a day trip to the beach (avoiding sunburn as much as possible!), and more of the good things in life…
This summer, while it’s basically 2/3rds over, has felt “long” in the best of ways. Yes, we still have to be careful when out and about, and be considerate of others and be aware of health concerns. But, maybe, just maybe, there’s a bit of light at the end of this 2+ year long tunnel.
So, bravo to the SUMMER OF MIKE, and I hope all your summers are going as well as possible! Tell everyone in the comments how you’re doing!
And, I know this has been a lot of words, so to reward your reading, here’s a Haley cat photo…
