I’m getting ready for my annual beach vacation. I’ve been rather quiet on the blog as I work on two big projects but I did want to reach out and wish all of you a FABULOUS summer filled with lots of everything you desire, including rockin’ sex.
Come on, most of us want that, right?
Send those wishes back to me. It’s been a cruel, cruel summer, thus far. Jeez, what’s a girl gotta do for a little action? On the other hand, I have a lot of nerve lamenting my lust-less condition. I’m not doing a thing to make it happen. I’m taking a break from Tinder, again. But you know, sometimes you just feel like grumbling about something.
One of the most popular posts from the original 1Year blog was about my beach vacation. I thought I’d share it again since it’s not included in the book. I just got some amazing feedback on the book, BTW, from a freelance editor. I’m feeling good about it. Maybe even a little full of myself. See how I am? Even sexless my ego’s still going strong.
Here’s the oldie but goodie:
Summer Lovin’ (2012-05-31)
There’s something about the onset of summer that makes me want a man more than any other time of year. Official Summer is later than my clock. June 1st marks the day on my calendar. I know most people feel the yearning to be part of a couple around the holidays. For some there’s nothing nicer than waking up on Christmas morning with the person they love. There are the holiday parties and the comfort in knowing you have a date and it’s with someone you want by your side. There’s also the joy of shopping for the perfect gift and the anticipation of seeing their face as they open the present.
Not for me.
It’s summertime and being solo that make me melancholy.
I love warm weather: the smell of sunscreen, my feet in the sand on a beach, the water footsteps away, and libations with fresh fruit. It’s summer that has me longing for Him.
NYC has been hot and humid lately. The feeling is in the air—vacation is just around the corner. Four summers in a row I’ve rented a beach house in Virginia, right on the ocean. My daughters and their pals (as many as they want) are welcome to come. I also invite my closest friends. It is a relaxed time with absolutely no agenda. I don’t need lots of organized activities. I’m very happy to sit under the EZ-Up (my days of bronzing are over) with a stack of books, a beer or cocktail. I’ll occasionally grab a boogie board, head to the water to cool off, maybe ride a few waves and let the ocean knock me around a bit, but that’s the extent of my daily game plan.
There’s a Ping-Pong table and I have a ruthless serve and a nasty spin on my backhand (don’t smirk, I do) so a competitive tournament in the evening is possible. After a few days my younger daughter will finally beat me so badly I put down the paddle for another year.
There’s a game table next to the large windows overlooking the sea. My friend Lisa always has a ridiculously difficult puzzle in the works and won’t stop until she’s got it all finished. Love her tenacity.
My oldest daughter makes the meanest piña colada I’ve ever had and the blender is regularly in use. The living room has large overstuffed sofas and when I come out in the morning (I’m always up first) there are usually the sleeping forms of those too tired (or perhaps too intoxicated) to make it to the bedrooms the night before. I love the quiet of the morning and head to the deck with coffee to watch the dolphins that come close to shore at sunrise to feed.
The dogs love it too. Kate and Lola (firstborn’s rotten Pug) are beach bitches. Kate goes feral. We start our morning with a lengthy leash-free walk. Nigel joined us last summer but he was too heavy to enjoy the exercise. This year he’s lean and mean and I can’t wait to see him keep up with the girls.
We take flashlights once it is dark and shine them on the hordes of ghost crabs that begin feeding at dusk. The dogs chase the creatures and I wait for the requisite pinch they’ll receive from the claws of their prey.
I cook a big meal every night and dinner is served at whatever time it gets done. There are always plenty of volunteers to cut, chop and dice so preparation is as much fun as consumption.
I love to cook. Having a big group enjoying the food is my bliss. Dinners are filled with wine, highly inappropriate conversation and large doses of raucous laughter. It’s fun to watch my friends and my daughters’ having fun together.
It’s at those instants I feel the pang. I want to glance across the table and smile at the man I’m with. Share the “this is a brilliant moment” look.
I’ve not had that experience and this year will be no exception—even if I were to meet the perfect guy today. There’s a feeling of camaraderie at the beach. An intimacy. It would be much too soon to introduce a new man into that mix. I would have to be sure that he’s one I could end up with. I don’t want to taint future summers with memories of a guy I didn’t know well enough to realize was, well, a jerk. I also don’t want to be surprised by things I might learn under vacation conditions. I need experiences, perhaps a catastrophe or two before I can be sure he will add to the party.
For instance, I could tell a lot about a man by his reaction to the Kate boondoggle. If he were with me when it happened—even better. If he either added to the stress, or in any way made light of it, a warning shot would be fired. If he said something marvelous like, “It’s a dog not a child,” or went into high alert, barking orders, blaming me or the doorman, freaking out–he’s not my guy.
If our first date included my pratfall and he was embarrassed or ashamed by my tumble, if he couldn’t laugh with me once I got over the humiliation or tell me it wasn’t that noticeable–he’s not my guy.
I would also want to see him interact with my daughters more than once or twice. Although they are adults, independent women in their own right, it is important that they get along. If he’s condescending or dismissive—he’s not my guy.
Lastly, there is the most important reason that the beach is not a spot to bring Dude du Jour. It is the place where Neal’s ashes were scattered.
It isn’t a sad memory—he didn’t want it to be. I intentionally chose that location because he said any beach would be fine. That one was special. It was there I spent two summers of my childhood and those remembrances are some of the happiest I have. I wanted him to meld with those memories and have intentionally made each summer at the beach one big party. A way to recognize that although another year has passed, he’s still on our minds. To acknowledge him in a way that briefly pays homage to his life. There’s nobody who loved a good party more than he.
The man in my life would have to accept that on one night, with many who knew him best, we open a bottle of champagne and drink to Neal.
It will take time to be sure he can handle it. He will have to know there is no competition—Neal is gone. He has to feel loved by me with the same fierceness I once loved another. He will have to be as sure of himself as of me. Comfortable with the annual, short but significant, tradition of recognizing Neal was here. The stories will be the same and most of them funny. There are never tears. Just an hour or so of joyful appreciation of the larger than life person he was and how fortunate we all were to have known him.
The right guy will not ask that this be modified. He’ll get it. Perhaps even grow to enjoy the experience or toast Neal himself. He will instinctively know there’s no need to feel he is less and will accept that this ritual will continue for as long as our glorious summers in Virginia Beach remain.
“In Summer, the song sings itself.” William Carlos Williams
Have a beautiful summer. I’ll probably be posting beach pics on FB so I hope you’ll Like the page (if you haven’t already). Also be sure to sign up to be notified when the book is published. Go to the 1YearofOnlineDating tab.
Anna says
Ahhh, your summer vacation sounds like great fun! Food, family, friends, the beach and a little somethin’ somthin’ to keep things light! A perfect combination…
I also miss have a special guy in the summer more than any other time of year, I guess I get frisky in the spring like so many other animals!
I hope you have a great vacation and Cheers to Neal!
Melani says
Thanks, Anna. Yes, it’s the perfect vacation. The hardest decisions I make are which book to read first and when to reapply sunscreen. 🙂
Bridget says
Great story, Melani, loved reading it again. I’m with you when you say summer is your preference for being in a relationship. I love sharing the ease of summer evenings, outdoor cooking, relaxing and drinking with someone I’m connected with, not just someone I’m dating! Can you share what “big projects” you are working on?
Melani says
You nailed it, Bridget. That connection beyond just dating is excellent paired with summer. I can certainly share what I’ve been working on. Editing the book, first of all. Although I’ve hired an editor, she makes suggestions and then I do the writing. It’s a lengthy, tedious process. The second is much more fun. I worked with a friend of mine who’s a screenwriter on a script based on an idea I had. I’ve never done any screenwriting so it was exhilarating and lots of fun to be challenged with something new–especially something that moves so quickly on the page. We’ll see if anything comes of it. If so, you know I’ll share immediately on the blog.
Matt Mooney says
Ah… the days of summers past. The golden sunsets reflecting off the water. The heat of the day blends into the cool of night as the lightening bugs dance across the field to crickets singing and tree frogs chirping a rhythm unknown to you. The coming evening and the coolness of the dew on your feet as you walk across the lawn.The sights and smells of the local carnival as you walk silently with your loved one … and the intense heat of that summer romance. The days of wandering a meadow with your partner with the warm southern breeze swaying the grasses and breathing life into the field and the memories of “lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff”. Nights of viewing the stars bleeding through the distant trees while laying on a blanket in the bed of a pickup truck on an endless dirt road and the moonlight dancing off her skin….
yup, those were the days.
Now my summers consist of sweating my ass off picking weeds in the garden, fighting off the bugs while watering flowers, mowing the scorched, brown lawn and hiding in the air conditioning drinking beer with my single buddies. Summers are not the same anymore and admit I long for the days of old.
But sometimes late at night, when the moon is just right and I sit outside on the concrete stairs in the front of my home like I use to as a child. I close my eyes…. and the magic of summer is still there.
Melani says
Wow, you took me there, back and there again, Matt. Sorry to hear about your brown lawn. Thanks for sharing!
AQScott says
Hi Melanie,
Grumble away… I feel your pain. Been a fan of yours for a while… I love your stories, and at times feel we are on parallel journeys. At 49, I too am about to head from Minnesota with my two teen daughters for our annual week in a Cape Cod beachfront rental… our last before I bid them both farewell and face my empty nest. I begin each of those cherished days with coffee and morning pages before anyone awakens the beach. I too am wistful, and even impatient, for the man I am destined to meet… but know he’s out there (as is yours).
WCW was a wise and articulate poet who also wrote”…there is no season but the one for me now” so let’s continue to embrace it… albeit alone, yet surrounded by our favorite daughters and gal pals 🙂
I wish you love… and all the best with your book… can’t wait to read it!!
Melani says
What a beautiful message, AQ. Thank you for sharing your story. Absolutely. we’re living parallel lives. I just got to the beach today. After driving six hours I shopped for groceries, made a quick sandwich dinner for everyone and am now taking a deep breath–with the help of a NZ Sauvignon Blanc. I think I’ll take a short stroll on the beach. I must see the ghost crabs before I call it a night.
Yes, he’s out there–for each of us. I know it. Thank you, also, for another beautiful quote. So true. A lovely and eloquent message, AQ. I am grateful for your support.
Tracy says
I had the great fortune to read Melani’s book before the freelance editor. I’m a prolific reader, tough critic, and enjoy an interesting. bio as well. Melani’s book hits it out of the park! Laughing out loud stories blended with prose bittersweet and understanding of loss and love. A fantastic read. So timely in this age of digital dating and the search for love. If I was meh, about the book I’d say nothing. So excited for you, Melani Robinson!!! You’ve gone yard my friend. (Yes I used baseball metaphors. It’s the season…) 🙂
Melani says
Thank you, Tracy. I so appreciate your critique, my friend.
Kim P says
Awww…a great read and kick off to summer. Have fun! Missing you all.
Melani says
Wish you were here, Kim. We’re missing you, too!