On your lunch break today take a drive through one of the subdivisions that lines U.S. 84 in Vidalia.

Enjoy the green grass, towering trees and blue skies above, and see if something — or someone — you see spurs a walk down memory lane and a longing for days past.

By 1 p.m. today the streets in Vidalia will be filling with happiness, freedom and summer smiles.

And, dang it, it’s going to make you want a summer vacation.

Concordia Parish schools close for the summer at 12:50 today. Natchez schools will soon follow suit.

Summer has begun. And I don’t get any.

I’ll have no midday bike rides down the street, no sleeping late to awake to Nickelodeon cartoons and a day of lounging.

I can’t regularly swim between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and I won’t have time to create a homemade lemonade stand on the street corner.

It’s just not fair.

And most of Europe agrees.

Many workers in European countries get what I’d call a paid summer vacation — though they can take the time off in winter too. The government in France requires that all employees received a minimum of 30 paid vacation days.

The United States has no such law.

Thankfully, my employer offers two weeks paid vacation, but I’m not sure my bike legs can fully come back in such a short amount of time.

Many Americans have worsened the burden by not even taking the days we are given. We have so much to do, so much love for our jobs that we give 1.6 million years’ worth of unused vacation time back to our employers, a CNN Money report said a few years ago.

Certainly the current economy isn’t motivating those of us who still have jobs to demand that vacation time now.

Summer vacation is a highly debated issue in education circles. Many administrators think students would do better in year-round school with extended weekend and holiday breaks but no 3-month hiatus.

Others say the break is necessary to let kids be kids.

The summer break option has won out at local schools due in part to tradition, staffing and budgetary needs.

The result? All those children begin rubbing their freedom in our faces starting today.

They’ll pull out the bikes, the balls, the video games and snacks. They will forget their bedtimes and lose track of time during the day.

And they will probably all come outdoors between noon and 1 p.m. — as us workaholics step into the sunshine to grab a bite to eat — just to make sure we see what fun really is.

The children don’t realize, you see, that we were kids once too. We remember summer. Some had to work, others just got to play, but we once had some freedom as well.

Kids think adulthood equals freedom.

They think growing up is fun.

But look closely into the eyes of any adult whose gaze drifts from the stop sign to the bicycle spokes today, and you’ll understand what freedom really is.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.