These kids know how to live. I watch them spend their days in their swimsuits, riding bikes and skateboards around greenwater, splitting time between the public dock and the swimming beach on the Mill Pond. They get wet every day. I spent my childhood summers like this and I’m so glad it still happens for these kids.

We should all wear our suits under our clothes–ready to jump into a lake at any opportunity. Feel the exhilaration of running the full length of the dock and leaping into the chilly water–cannonball-style. Walk around on the weedy bottom in search of clams; screaming when you find one. Lie on a beach towel while the sun dries your skin and your hair–all stuck to your head, weird and knotty. Then spend the rest of the day with sand in your toes and weed bits in your shorts, smelling a little like lake water. Imagine how different our days would be. How different we would be.
We should all get wet every Minnesota summer day.