Vin Scully and my Dad...the sounds of summer

These days, Memorial weekend is an observance, a time to be grateful for my life and the sacrifices of those who came before me. It also marks the coming of summer. One signpost for this tennis fan is the French Open, which is followed by my much loved Wimbledon in midsummer, and at summer's conclusion is the US Open. When I was young, I knew it was summer when I awoke to the sounds of my father mowing the lawn in the cool of the morning, and when dinner was on the patio to the voice of Vin Scully on the radio, calling the Dodgers game and singing the praises of "Far-mer John" . Daddy would barbeque, and we would sit out in the warm evening eating ribs and corn on the cob. Sometimes, when I walk out in a cool morning of what promises to be a hot day, espeically if there is a lawn mower running in the distance, I get that feeling of being out of school for the summer and of all that used to mean. Even now, listening to Vin Scully (still) call the Dodgers' home game I am taken back home to the patio on Stagg Street, and the how special summer was to that little girl who still lives in me. Happy Memorial Day, Daddy. I miss you.