CINDY, INCIDENTALLY:

One of my favorite childhood memories is the last day of school.

There was almost always a bounty of cupcakes, fruit punch, hugs from teary teachers and a discussion with fellow 9-year-olds about Slip n’ Slide tournaments and trips to Disneyland planned for the summer break.

The beauty of this childhood ritual is the clear distinction of easing into a summer vacation mentality.

The closest I can get to this now is eating a $3 gourmet cupcake while Googling images of Costa Rica during a lunch break.

But this year, I’ve made the decision that although a three-month summer break doesn’t exist in my world, I can try to capture the footloose and fancy-free feeling in my own way.

I kicked off my experiment by taking a “personal day” from work and heading into Huntington Harbor for an afternoon of kayaking with a friend.

There’s something about playing outdoors while the rest of your comrades are dutifully working that stirs a “school’s out” feeling.

Kayaking brought on visions of lazily drifting through the scenic harbor Huckleberry Finn style — but it is a surprisingly vigorous upper body workout.

We awkwardly paddled through the harbor, trying to figure out how to steer the kayak in the direction we wanted, while ohhing and ahhing over the Duffy boats and yachts with names like “Lady Luck” and “Good Life.”

We enviously stopped and floated near opulent homes, which ranged from Cape Cod beach shacks to Tuscan-style mansions that appeared to belong on the peak of an Italian hillside.

A handful of homes had window decorations, like a full-size plastic Spider-Man, a sneering pirate and a bikini-clad mannequin that were posed in front of windows.

As we made our way through the harbor, we greeted fellow kayakers, stand-up paddlers and canoodling couples who lounged in a romantic gondola ride.

It was surprising how many people were out in the middle of a work day, and we figured everyone else was trying to enjoy the fruits of summer.

My friend and I eventually caught on to the rhythm of paddling tandem, and we were able to steer the kayak where we wanted, anchor it and jump into the water for a quick swim.

When we made it back to dry land we felt about 10 years old and neither one of us could stop smiling. It felt like summer, finally. We decided to celebrate the day in a way that only an adult could: We headed over to the wine bar Brix in Sunset Beach and toasted to summer fun with good wine and stinky cheese.

CINDY ARORA is a freelance writer for the Independent.