WILL WRITE FOR FOOD

I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that the summer may eventually come to an end. And I talk about summer here as in the way we used to think of summer when we were little kids -- nothing but sun and fun. As I was settig up the new home office headquarters of Piker today, it dawned on me... I did not work a single day this summer. Unemployment checks, travel vouchers, my family and My Girl kept me alive and smiling. Up until last weekend, there was not one fun thing I had to say no to.

Some very good friends invited My Girl and I down to Mexico to hang out with a group of people we really like. An offer to spend a long weekend in an amazing house overlooking the ocean south of Ensenada is an incredibly intoxicating proposition, but one My Girl and I were forced to refuse. The four of us all got on the phone and My Girl and I broke the news to our friends. They did everything they could to convince us to come and even suggested we could just show up if we changed our minds. That left the door open and put us on the fence. Then, in an ironic turn of events, My Girl got a writing assignment that was due on Wednesday. Seeing as how she always likes to be highly professional by turning her work in a day early, it was adios, ensenada.

This past weekend marked the second straight weekend I had to say no to an event I very much wanted to attend. This one also took place in Mexico. "Oh Mexico... I ain't ever been, but I'd sure like to go..." A close friend got married in Cancun and had invited me to her small intimate wedding, but I simply could not afford to go. Saying no in both cases was the mature thing to do, the adult thing to do. However, the kid in me -- who had one of his best summers ever -- couldn't help but think: Two missed Mexican fiestas, mucho fun missed out on.

One would be hard-pressed to find a sporting event I missed out on. Not that I attended all of the events, that would be The Dream Summer, but I did watch almost every minute on TV. The major tournaments of Golf and Tennis bracket the summer perfectly -- each has their tease, with The Masters held in April and the French Open in late May. June contains Golf's U.S. Open and Tennis' Wimbledon. Then Golf plays through with the British Open in July and the PGA Championship in early August, before Tennis serves out the summer with its U.S. Open in late August through early September. I was able to catch parts or all of the events mentioned above, as well as nearly every match of a magical World Cup, and I enjoyed myself thorougly in the process. This past weekend saw Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi go at it once again, perhaps for the last time in a Grand Slam, on the first Sunday of the NFL season. As I watched the match, while relaxing with a bunch of friends in a hot tub in Mission Viejo, I could feel the torch being passed. Tennis was stubborn, grinding it out until the very last Sampras serve-and-volley, but eventually relented the summer and handed off the fall to Football.

So, students are back at school, the "American Idol" has been crowned, and the new TV season is right around the corner. "Spiderman", "Attack of the Clones", "The Bourne Identity", "Minority Report", "Austin Powers' in Goldmember", "Signs", "XXX", and "Scooby Doo" have all blockbusted and squeezed as many teen dollars out of the summer as possible. Soon, the weather will turn as well. For those who don't have the luxury of living somewhere like California or Florida, thoughts of sun and fun and white sandy beaches will have to wait until vacation, or perhaps even next summer. I can't help but think of Jim Morrison crooning "Where will we be? When the summer's gone?" Well, it's gone and I know where I am, but I have no idea where I'm going.