This past weekend officially marked the beginning of Summer. Perhaps it was hard to notice as the month’s early days of blistering temperatures finally gave way to a more spring-like feel, but when the year’s longest day arrived Saturday, there was no mistaking that we had indeed arrived in the year’s greatest season.

And it was time to celebrate.

The Cards were rebounding from their three day brain fart against the Royals with an impressive weekend showing at Fenway, the familiar aroma of BBQ permeated my neighborhood and I had seen the year’s first firefly.

Yeah, that’s right I still honor these ‘summer first’s’ as means for fully appreciating what is still my favorite three months of the year.

Oh sure, a lot of the magic of summer goes by the wayside as a 20 something when you have a job, spend the entire day at a desk indoors and cherish holiday weekends the way you used to anticipate the once 10 week escape from school.

However, like the sight of Clydesdales stomping through snow in a Christmas-time Budweiser commercial, summer continues to be the ultimate time-trap. It’s been well over a decade since I’ve had a summer-long vacation from school, employment and well, any responsibility. Yet, even today I still have the same summer hobbies and interests that I did as a kid.

And baseball is still at the forefront of this list.

Along with girls.

And swimming pools.

Truth be told, I still remember being twelve years old. I remember spending summer days playing home run derby with friends in my backyard, cooling off in my best friend’s pool in the afternoon and beginning my seemingly endless campaign of seeing as many girls as possible in bikinis before Labor Day.

Not much really changes, I’ve learned.

Many of you probably have your own summer traditions. A lake house you visit each year on the 4^th of July, countless nights at Ted Drewes, or cross-country road trips to partake in annual family reunions.

Baseball somehow continues to withstand the test of time. Whether it was the first game you played under the lights in Little League, your first trip back to the ballpark with college friends, or simply having the familiar tones of Mike Shannon’s voice accompany you while you enjoy a few beverages on the patio, baseball has always been there.

No sport has such a stranglehold on the sports calendar, like baseball does with summer, I love that. When the Stanley Cup and NBA finals end, America’s sporting landscape quickly transitions into baseball-only. It’s a time to first analyze the standings, figure out if your team will be buying or selling come July 31 and to realistically project how much your team could reward you of your fandom come October.

Baseball’s place in a childhood summer has never been more accurately portrayed than in the movie, the Sandlot. In the movie, a grown man narrates the story of his (Scotty Smalls) summer days as a 12 year-old spent in his new home, with new friends, first discovering this great game.

Each time I watch the scene where they all throw up on the carnival ride, I’m reminded of the first time I put a hunk of chaw in my mouth. Each time I see Ham do a monster cannonball at the pool, I’m reminded of how many days I spent near a body of water admiring older women. Each time I see Benny and his crew get one of their own in a run-down between bases, I instinctively yell ‘Pickle!’ right along with the film.

There’s probably a little bit of ‘Smalls’ in all of us, right?

Like Richard Dreyfuss says in the final scene of Stand By Me as he recollects the film’s story on his desktop, ‘I never had friends like I did when I was twelve…Jesus, do any of us?’

I don’t know what will unfold over the final three months of the Cardinals season. The Cubs appear to be unbeatable at home, we seem to put an everyday player on the disabled list every week and nobody has the slightest clue if our top two pitchers will return to form. I do know, like I did when I was 12, I’ll enjoy this time of year regardless.

After all, I’m in no rush for football season or school to return.

J Carnage continues to wait for his real-life Wendy Peffercorn. Drop him a line at JCarnage24@yahoo.com if you’re the Squints Palledourous-type.