“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
“Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ H. Jackson Brown Jr
“You’ll be glad you did!” ~ Alexandria Sage
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The Weekly Photo Challenge theme this week is “Carefree”. One word means carefree for me—Summer. And summer means “water”.
Free from the stiff structure of school schedules, water brings out the brave in me. Water has dominated my summers as far back as I can remember. And I’ve done just about every trick imaginable in the water.
My uncle plunked water skis on all us cousins at a very young age. He would shove them down in a sandbar and take off. It was drenching at first but in time we learned to skim the choppy waters, dodging large chunks of driftwood which made the ride even more wild. There was never a Do you want to learn this? With unbridled voracity, we bolted to the boat the day our name was called. In my family, this was a rite of passage.
Then there were the rope swings, the high dives, the quarry and cliff jumps. {Yes, I nearly drowned once-seriously.} My own kids didn’t take swim lessons because nothing could keep their mother out of the water with them. {No embellishment here—they are my proofreader’s. :-)}
Now this little guy is my swimming buddy. He’s getting braver and more adventurous. What’s more carefree than a beautiful summer day and a pool filled with shimmering water to frolic in? For him and me—NOTHING!
But I hope I can get him to shed the goggles soon–summer’s almost over! 🙂
SimplySage 
sonjacali
/ August 18, 2013I especially like the first photo!
SimplySage
/ August 18, 2013Thanks! I do, too. That’s why I put it in first place. Nice of you to stop by and comment.
Amy
/ August 18, 2013Love his smile! How fun to swim together, Alexandra 🙂
pattisj
/ August 18, 2013Carefree, those days.
MG
/ August 18, 2013Excellent! Pretty sure I’ve never looked this carefree in any body of water except my bathtub :).
The Rider
/ August 19, 2013Amazing post! Thanks so much for this!
SimplySage
/ August 19, 2013Your welcome! Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment.
Geraldine
/ August 19, 2013Your first line says it all, so true. What adorable pics! 😉
SimplySage
/ August 19, 2013Thank you. Nice of you to drop by!
mithriluna
/ August 19, 2013Great post!
SimplySage
/ August 19, 2013Thank you. Glad you enjoyed!
Becky
/ August 19, 2013Kids and swimming pools…they just seem to go together so well, don’t they? Your swimming buddy sure is a cutie 🙂
The Guat
/ August 21, 2013All these shots are pretty nice, but the first one is my favorite. Totally captured the theme this week. And I love this quote.