The feel of a warm yet cool breeze…the sound of water splashing, kids laughing and the smell of barbeque on the grill. All of these things have come to be synonymous with summer. Insert the Fourth of July scene from “The Sandlot” or just about any scene from “The Wonder Years” and fully escape to that happy place of past, present and hopefully future. Good food, drinks, company and the sight of colorful fireworks painting the night sky. This is how it’s done. But sadly, this is not always the reality in the world we live in today. Speed is the name of the game, which is odd, because when I was a kid, I wanted summer to last forever.

In a world of constant movement, work, stress and obligation, remembering those days of yesteryear can be downright therapeutic. There is not even one single day of the week that can be pointed to universally as the busiest. In other words, Mondays are not always definitively the ‘worst’ day anymore. Don’t worry though, they still inhale profusely. We all know that great sounding phrase, ‘So, I see you got a case of the Mondays.’ This is usually when you are tempted to respond with something that would alert human resources that is followed by sitting in a cold and lonely chair for hours, listening to a Toby Flenderson read from a binder full of rules and workplace expectations in a thrilling monotone voice…on a Tuesday…that now feels like a Monday. Great, Monday came twice this week.

What is the remedy for the case of the ‘this just sucks’? There are three months every year, and maybe an extra one depending on how well your Spring blooms, that can bring a smile to even the grumpiest of people. Who is that girl I see over there? Is that the one and only ‘Barbara Ann’? In the words of Yello, “Ohhh, Yeahhhh.”

The sunny lining from this is that you get the traditional American summer complete with countless opportunities for fun in the sun. No longer the threat of a flu-inducing cold front or being snowed in Buffalo, New York-style. At long last, there is a warm and inviting light at the end of the tunnel known as the American work week. Fortunately, much like college, Friday afternoons have in part become an extension of the weekend. For sane individuals, not too much work or meetings are planned in the late afternoon on a Friday (except if you’re a certain company located in southern California…they gave me the rarely experienced ‘case of the Fridays.’ Not cool).

Returning back to the sunny disposition, Friday afternoons have become connected to the weekend. Add in the utopian-like conditions and what could possibly stop us from a stress-free 2 1/2 days’ weekend of relaxation?

Question: Who is in charge of weekend plans/getaways? If you answered Mom or Dad, I’m sorry, but that’s not what we were looking for. Survey says: Electrical Outlets for 500!

Particularly thanks to the genius of Steve Jobs, millions of people of all ages from around the world have or at least have access to a technological device that starts with the letter “i.” There is the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac and, given enough time, iVacation. As we have come to realize, “there’s an app for that.” We have become so addicted to these various devices that we are constantly wide-eyed for an outlet, whether in the privacy of our homes or in public (which is always a breeze). Exactly like the commercial with the children staring at the adults sitting on the floor of an airport securely protecting “their” outlet, it’s time to ask ourselves, “How did we get here?”

While recently boating around Buckeye Lake on a Saturday afternoon, I saw some great sights before getting on the boat. Three teenage girls were walking on the boardwalk and talking to each other. No txtg was gng on. In the other direction was a family wearing life preservers dripping wet who were joyfully sharing stories before stepping back onto their boat. What year was it? Did I step onto a time traveling dock?

While eating the famous All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburger pizza at the lake’s hot spot Papa Boo’s that evening, vague sights of nostalgia appeared before my eyes. There was just something about the feeling of relaxing in a crowded food joint with a live band playing, people conversing legendary tales of the past and enjoying the view of beautiful, scantily clad young ladies dancing their hearts out. As I jokingly mentioned to the person next to me, “This would be a fun place to get into a little bit of trouble.”

One of the best parts about that evening was the apparent ‘no ties’ rule. The only business allowed was having a good time by escaping the daily grind of the work week. Plus, there was a bachelorette party, but I have to refrain from disclosing those details.

From a Fourth of July neighborhood party that involved kids (with the supervision of adults) lighting fireworks in the street that to a faraway onlooker easily could have been confused for a community’s patriotic display to having a water fight with my nephew to Papa Boo’s, it was starting to feel like a little bit like we were being watched. It was almost as if we were all on a movie or television set, acting out how summer and the Fourth of July are supposed to be spent: running around, having fun and as the Mom in “The Sandlot” professed to her homebody son one night, “I want you to get out in the fresh air and make friends. Run around and scrape your knees. Get dirty. Climb trees and hop fences. Get in trouble for crying out loud…Not too much, but some. You have my permission. Now how many mothers do you think say that to their sons?”

To be clear, Apple products are great. They are incredible as a matter of fact. As an owner, they are helpful, easy to use and very cool. However, what is commonly perceived as a glitch or negative feature about these mobile computers and media players is actually a blessing in disguise. Many fault Apple for not making the battery life long enough. The pain of having to charge every night to more than once a day to constantly being plugged in for heavy users causes stress. Nobody wants to see the red sliver in the battery canister in the top right corner. However, a limited battery charge is actually a good thing because it is a subtle hint of when to put it down, leave it alone and exit the web, cloud, movie, presentation, etc. Isn’t it odd that when you are connected you are actually disconnected?

Even if Apple one day offers iFreshAir, it will never beat playing hooky on a beautiful day in downtown Chicago.