Messenger photo by Joe Duty

Reflections inside the mind’s eye replay joys of old summers. Grass stains and scraped knees cross through calendar days like highlighter strokes. Sun sparkles through water on days that seem eternal. Brief nights bring canyon-like sleep.

During the last week of school, our roaming photographer captured summer preview during Young Elementary’s “Water Day” in Decatur. Fifth-grader Anthony Lopez, braces, teeth and shards of grass gleaming, exemplifies the brilliance of June.

Our subject reflects forward, previewing the summer days to come. Temporary seasons of youth crystallizing into permanence while a drop of snow cone red as rust teeters into oblivion.