Invincible Summer

I like winter. It's a change of pace that brings water to the desert. But each year, winter in reality seems so much colder, so much deadlier than I remember it. Fortunately this winter I can vividly recall memories of my most recent summer. I didn't get outdoors as much as I usually do, but the time I spent in the sunshine will long be remembered. This summer that something "just out of reach, down the block, on a beach, under a tree" was in fact there. The something was and is hard to define, but it certainly includes friendship, brotherhood, camaraderie, respect, learning, boundaries, knowledge, laughter and more. The holiday of Thanksgiving is over, but I still find myself in a thankful mood and I am reminded of the quotation by Albert Camus: "In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."