Another Summer by Gene Farinet / The Digital Filmmaker /

Home / DV-Film /

Another Summer
By Gene Farinet

The good old summertime!

“Days of jeweled balm for battered spirits”, romanticized the poet, Intoxicating one with the belief “all’s right with the world.”

“We do what we can”, another concluded: “but summer will have its flies.”

Welcome to vacationland, 2008!
Not much balm, But a lot of swarms.

Normally, vacations are a non-negotiable part of contemporary life, until seriously challenged by economic worries. A Travel Industry Association survey indicates that 41% of Americans will probably adjust their travel plans in some way.

Shorter distances. Shorter vacations. Spending less on meals and lodging.

One national study predicts that typical; summer vacations may drop as much as 7% over last year.

The T-I-A also estimates that 59% are still planning a trip with their car, even with gasoline prices at an all-time high, and driving curtailed at a historic rate. The federal Department of Transportation recently reported that Americans are traveling fewer road miles in the biggest decrease since World War Two.

Sky-rocketing air fares are also taking a big bite out of the friendly skies. With deep frustration over the whole air travel system, including more and more flight delays, 28% of frequent fliers avoided at least one trip over the past year.

But I come NOT to bury the summer, but to point out that, happily, some things never change.

June still comes calling in a lacy veil, the most popular month for marriage ceremonies,

Cap and gown are put away. A number of families will pack up their troubles and, as the quip goes, send them off to camp.

We will celebrate the Fourth of July as we always do.

Traditional parades, local police and fire department marching bands, fireworks bursting in air, picnics, star spangled oratory.

Summer will be a tableau of many images. Music under the stars, art in the park, sawdust and midways, scream machines, loop the loop, hot dogs in the bleachers, family reunions, backyard barbecues, girls at the beach hoping they can squeeze into last year’s bathing suit.

Still, most family budgets will be a hit and run victim of the economy. Even last summer when conditions were better, there were 415-million UNUSED vacation days by Americans who decided they could not take the time off.

Oh yes, we mustn’t forget, it’s the home stretch in a presidential election year.. Another five months of chaotic campaign environment. In a time when most Americans don’t have great confidence in the people running government, an unwinnable war and a nervous economy.

Will we be able to take all the hype? A circus of media coverage, a mix of negative advertising and politicians committing verbal larceny?

More than ever, the simple fact is vacation, 2008, will be what you can make of it in uncertain times.

A few will find that the best way to shed tensions, to re-connect and re-charge batteries, is to stay home with the “flies’. Even laziness and idleness can find respectability.

In any case, the summer will pass, and the fleeting moments of “jeweled balm “ are likely to be all too few.

.........................................................................................................................
Gene Farinet, an award winning veteran newsman, spent much of his long career at NBC News as a writer and producer working with Frank McGee, Ed Newman, John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw, covering space, politics and special projects everywhere in the world.