The Summer of 2007

My Awesome Summer
By Josh Watkins

My summer was such a blast,
Much better than the ones in the past.
The sun shone bright and it shone long,
Which inspired me to write this summer song.
The freedom bell of school set me free,
From all the books, teachers, and calamity.
School ended and out came the sun,
It was time for boatloads of fun.
I called up my friends and gave them a shout,
"Hey guys, summer is here, let's hang out."
First, I hit the park to play some disc,
Playing in the dead heat against big guys was a risk.
ONE, TWO, THREE, ULTIMATE! was the call,
Of the game where I always have a ball.
Each goal was marked by a tree,
Oh look! a goal scored by me!
Now off to the pool to cool down,
And hang out with friends from all over town.
Out to the cabin on the lake I go,
Where me and the boys put on a show.
With the waters clear and the sky blue,
We knew just what to do.
Out onto the water the jetski went,
The inner tube along with it was sent.
Life vests strapped, engine started, and shades on,
before you could say "Let's Rock", we were gone.
Hard on the throttle, the speedometer read,
Thirty, Forty, Fifty, Extreme thrill ahead!
We were want to be rebels that afternoon,
To see who could ride the tube longest, without bailing so soon.
Taking a break and chilling in the A/C air,
With plenty of pop and snacks to share.
Playing poker with the music volume up all the way,
Do you check, fold, or stay?
Now hanging out on the beach as the sun falls into the sea,
It was time for an amazing beach party!
The fire was lit, shirts off, and the sand is cool,
Bags filled with homework, to be destroyed, all from school.
Flamming algebra planes, and english torches of fire,
A relaxing, fun, Christ-filled summer was my desire.
Next, the Jr. High camp came,
And for those who weren't there, it wasn't lame.
Music, Activities, fun, and Jesus for all.
Not one head was to great, nor any heart too small.
Along came the Cleveland getaway,
And thankfully the Lord kept the rain away.
The younger and older ones came together as one,
And believe me, it was a heck of a lot of fun.
Cornhole and canoes,
Apples to Apples and BBQs.
A week later, Mountain Top came,
Voices rang out, hearts lifted up, and the devil was put to shame.
So many friends I haven't seen in ages,
It's almost like I am filling an unwritten book's pages.
New games and activities came along,
Some could last all day long.
The siege was a game of great battle,
It jarred your teeth and made your bones rattle.
Siege was composed of three games in one,
Dodge ball, basketball, and paintball, without a gun.
Blue and red warriors met face to face,
Each side hoping to put the other to disgrace.
The whistle blew and the battle had begun,
It was a good day to die under the blood red sun.
The siege had ended and the sun was going down,
On to the power session, to turn some weary hearts around.
Mountain Top was enjoyable and sweet,
Every time it comes, it's another tasty treat.
From a relaxing Mountain Top to a hard core College Training,
From the words of Tim Chai, the rain kept raining.
Brother Titus was there to share the Word of Jesus,
It was wonderful,enjoyable, and it sure did please us.
I was happy to see so many hearts filled with love,
I felt so released, so free like a dove.
Even at night we had plenty to do,
From sharing stories, eating Ramen, and some lemonade pong too.
The training was nice, but also tough,
I however couldn't get enough.
Now the real test was here,
Which was preaching the gospel to an unbeliever's ear.
Gospel Odyssey was the game,
Of the group of people that spread Jesus's name.
With hearts open and hands full of invites,
We went far and long into the nights.
Even when the rain fell,
We were out saving the unsaved from hell.
When G.O. ended, that wasn't all,
We even got a Cedar Point trip before the fall.
Half the day spent waiting in lines was a pill,
But it was worth it to ride the Top Thrill!
The Magnum, Gemini, and Mean Streak tried to give me a shake,
But all they did was give me a better view of the lake.
The Mantis and Raptor tried to tear me to shredds,
They only succeeded in turning my cheeks red.
The came the Maverick, the one too tough to tame,
A fresh, new, coaster rising to fame.
i had to wait an hour and a half,
Just to get in one final laugh.
We got into the cars and strapped ourselves in tight.
Ready to take one final flight.
Off the coaster roared into the night,
It felt insane, amazing, and just right.
Cedar point is an outstanding amusement park.
Finally, before the summer diminished,
We had one last task to finish.
It was to spend time in the older saints' house,
To talk with them and their spouse.
Those were some really sweet times I had,
They made me feel loved, happy, and glad.
That was the tale of my best summer ever,
And I hope they keep happening like this forever.

I applaud you if you were able to make it through this monstrosity. I am not proud of this piece in the sense of writing. Too many typos, inconsistent and lack of capitalization, weird rhymes, cheesy lines, and run-on sentence after run-on sentence after run-on sentence (see what I did there).

However, the was a summer that was full of firsts and one I'll never forget because I had a blast. In case you didn't make it through the whole thing, here is a summary of this epic summer.

I played a lot of ultimate frisbee that year and that is a game that I love and will strive to be the best at. I'm that passionate about it. The next stage was jet-skiing out on Lake Erie. Being out there on the open water flying at 3-50 mph with the wind in your hair and water spraying in your face is incredible. Then came all the young people summer events which were Jr. High Camp, Mountain Top, Vision Week, and Gospel Odyssey. In between those was a church retreat to Ashland Woods. We also managed a Cedar Point trip as well. We also wanted to be a blessing to the saints in Cleveland, so we went over to a number of their houses for dinner and listened to their salvation and marriage stories. And I tried to cram it all into a two and a half page poem.

Highlights: The bags of homework was actually my sleeping bag case filled with nearly every piece of homework/project/tests I despised as well as 300+ Yugioh cards. We lit a fire on the beach and burned it all, some by folding them into paper airplanes and throwing them at each other while on fire. At Vision week, a couple guys made lemonade the first night and I decided to do it the next night. Now there was a dear brother by the name of Jerome Espiritu, who I had not met formally until that point, asked if I had made the lemonade the next night. I told him I had and he gave me a high five and called me his legend. That meant a lot to a 16 year-old. Also some of had a ping-pong ball from downstairs and were bouncing it off the isles into the empty lemonade pitcher. As more and more people trickled in, it quickly became a competition. Within 20 minutes, the entire house of brothers was involved. The coolest thing was that once someone sunk one, the entire room erupted in cheers.

The line "From the words of Tim Chai, the rain kept raining," was taken from a rap him Dan Johnson, and Johnny Pro, did on their way to Montreal for an earlier college training. See for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=515047518605&set=vb.12428006&type=3&theater

Remember how I said it was a summer of firsts? Well this summer was the first time I went Jet-skiing and Jeremiah Johnson, Mark Greenwood, and I made the first of our now annual cabin trip, the first Vision Week, and the first of our annual Cedar Point trips. Those three things have been going for 6 and a half years and I was there from the beginning. All this and more is why my 16 year-old self decided to try to immortalize that summer into a poem.