What I Did This Summer

Does anyone remember having to write the requisite “What I Did This Summer” essay assignment upon returning to school in the fall?  It was a dreadful assignment on a number of levels.  Those students who didn’t like to write or couldn’t write well stumbled over the syntax and task of organizing what might indeed have been a great set of stories, while others more gifted in the art of gab crafted often tantalizing tales of adventures in far flung places that made the rest of the class feel bad about themselves because their summer travels paled in comparison. 

My favorite “What I Did This Summer” story of all time is, hands down, Olivia Saves the Circus,  a children’s book that I first encountered when my daughter was in pre-Kindergarten.  Olivia is the beloved and mischievous character created by Ian Falconer, who began his career as a cartoonist for The New Yorker.  

In Olivia Saves the Circus, the reader is treated to Olivia’s delightful summer fantasy in which Olivia literally saves the circus by stepping in as various performers find themselves benched by ear infections. 

The story opens as Olivia is finishing up a breakfast of pancakes.  After her morning ablutions, Olivia rides her scooter to school. Once in her classroom, Olivia is asked to stand up and “tell the class about her vacation. 

Olivia, we’re told, [of course] always blossoms in front of an audience.”  Bursting with confidence and mischief, Olivia then launches into a fabulous tale about the circus her mother took her to visit, a circus whose entire cast sadly and mysteriously had been stricken with ear infections!

Olivia is undeterred by this small problem because, as she explains, “Luckily, I know how to do everything.”  “Everything,” it turns out, includes becoming the Tattooed Lady (my personal favorite is the “Remember the Maine” tattoo she inks on with a magic marker), taming the lions, walking the tightrope, performing on the trapeze, jumping on the trampoline, entertaining the crowd with various clown activities, and putting on a show in the ring as “Madame Olivia and Her Trained Dogs,” who “weren’t,” she explains, “very trained. “  

Next comes funniest line of all and the one, I believe, on which this essay truly rests:  “Then one time my dad took me sailing.  The End.”

As skeptical as a specially appointed prosecutor, Olivia’s teacher asks, “Was that true?”

“Pretty true,” Olivia responds.

Again, the teacher asks, “All true?”

“Pretty all true,” says Olivia with a straight face.

“Are you sure, Olivia?” the teacher presses yet again.

“To the best of my recollection,” Olivia replies, the perfect politician.

How many times have you felt the skepticism Olivia’s teacher when you look at your friends’ fabulous vacation shots on Instagram and Facebook?  Do you ever feel a bit like Olivia’s teacher?  Do you wonder if you asked the same questions you would get a similar answer: “Pretty all true.”

Yet unlike Olivia’s fellow students who are, apparently familiar with and quite amused by Olivia’s propensity to tell tall, yet entertaining tales, our friends’ social media posts sometimes make us feel a bit “less than,” even if we DID have a fun, albeit less glamorous summer.

We may not have had the opportunity to hop on a jet and fly to Paris for the weekend, for example, or we may not have enough airplane mileage points or credit card points banked to whisk the family off to Hawaii for a week of sun, fun, and the requisite round of golf.

At the end of the day, it’s best to be thankful for the little things, like taking a sailboat ride with your child or spending the weekend at Galveston Island– about an hour’s drive from Houston, where I live, or even enjoying a Staycation at home alongside the pool in your own backyard.

Make your own memories and stories about the time you spend with your loved ones. Be like Olivia who, at the end of the book is caught jumping on her bed after lights out by her mother.  

“OLIVIA, I said ‘no jumping!  Who do you think you are, Queen of the Trampoline?”

After her mother closes the door, Olivia, now lying on her bed under her photograph of Eleanor Roosevelt, thinks to herself, “Maybe.”

Did I surf the waves off Ponto State Beachor snorkel with Leopard Sharks?  Did I canoe down the South Fork of the Guadalupe, carrying my canoe across the shallow areas and skillfully navigating the rapids? Did I meet and drink wine with a famous artist? Maybe!

Did I have a wonderful time traveling to new places, seeing new things, and trying new foods and wines with my family? Absolutely!

May we all have bit of Olivia in ourselves as the summer winds to a close.  

Reference:  Falconer, Ian. Olivia Saves the Circus. Atheneum: New York, 2001.