Summer In The City

The first day of summer is my favorite day of the year. Yes, better than my birthday, better than Arbor Day.

As a Leo, the astrological sign ruled by the sun, I thrive in summer. I am not really big into astrology, but it might explain why I love the warm, long, hot days of summer and why the summer solstice is a big day for me.

So it stands without saying that I try to make the day extra special. We usually stay outside longer than normal, eat ice cream, listen to happy 60's rock and catch fire flies. This year though, it was a little more smashing than I expected.

The Carnegie Science Center has Snowball Day each year on the first day of summer. People are encouraged to bring snowballs from winter for 'name your own admission price' and then you can chuck them into the Mon River. I made a few snowballs after our late March snow and kept them in our freezer.

The kids and I schlepped down to the big city with our little Spider-Man cooler and got ready for the big splash. I was a little disappointed as the instruments the kids chose to launch their snowballs did not give it the air time I expected. Both snowballs landed splat in the dirty river just inches from where we were standing.

No problem. We were still able to enjoy our day at the science center followed by a trip to Rita's for their Italian Ice sale. By the time we were headed home everyone was bushed. The car was quiet as I listened to the summer song tribute on local radio station WYEP. I was immersed in the sounds of Eddie Vedder's 'Hard Sun' as we were in a line of cars, slowly about to enter the Route 30 detour through East Pittsburgh, when all of a sudden BAM! The van was pushed forward by the impact of the car behind.

For a moment I was alone. I was startled and a bit disoriented. Then I remembered all three kids were in the car. My youngest was in the farthest seat back and would have sustained the greatest impact. I became a little hysterical repeating "Are you ok? Are you ok? Are you ok?" as tears streamed down my face.

I then wanted to call the police but knew we had to pull over first. I wasn't sure where that was going to happen since we were stuck in traffic with no where really to go. There was a little gravel area ahead and I set my sights on getting there as I tried to calm myself down not wanting the driver that hit me to see my emotion running down my face.

The driver pulled up next to me and very calmly told me to pull down the street. He said his business was not far and I could follow him. Once we got down there I looked at the van and amazingly, there was no damage. The driver's car also had no damage. He described the accident as a 'kiss' which I didn't understand at first. I thought maybe, like my husband does at times, tries to steal a kiss at a stop light or in traffic. I thought maybe that was how the driver got distracted, but he meant since our cars "tapped" and not crashed.

We both inquired if the other was ok and he asked about the kid in the car. I corrected him and said, "All three of my children are in the car and they are ok."  He told me his soda bottle fell on the floor and the short time it took him to bend down and pick it up was enough time to lose track of the traffic flow. Although he was at fault, his calm and friendly personality really diffused my anxiety and took a sad song and made it better.

He told me if I needed anything to contact him and then he proceeded to direct traffic so I could back out onto the road. I drove away thankful that no one was hurt, thankful that my van was ok, and thankful that the driver that hit me was who God chose to put in my path.

I don't think my kids and I will ever forget our first day of summer crash. As we pulled away we recounted other minor accidents we were in. Each of us had a few to recall except my little guy. He proudly said, "This was my first one!" and I said, "Buddy, I hope it's one and done and this is it."

Nolan fires his snowball toward the Mon.