I know that summer
doesn't officially end until September 21st (and officially started on Jun 21st)
but I think most of us would agree that the summer season really begins around
Memorial Day and wraps up by Labor Day, if not earlier. Kids go back to school
in August. My own son goes back for his senior year college this weekend. The
idea of summer quickly coming to a close feels real. As a matter of fact I know
of a child in town who has already started his school year! I have already
started to see the school buses out and about. Certainly that is a sign of
autumn even though the calendar tells us no.
It has been a strange
summer. There have been a few really hot days, as would you come to expect with
a summer months, but mostly it has been wet. While we all know that in the east
of the United States it usually does get very humid over the summer months,
this year the humidity was more than usual and this year the rain was…A LOT! We are all used to pop up storms during the
summer. It used to be the bane of my existence. I wanted to open the windows
when I went to work to let whatever air flow in and cool down the house, but
there was always a threat of a storm. If I closed up the house, the storm would
inevitably miss us. If I didn't, there was always a mess to clean up when I got
home. This is something my son found out this year as he left windows open when
he went off to work and the rains came. And they came, they came!
This has been the summer
of wet mess. Of storms that took down trees and knocked out power for days. I
realize my own experience was not that bad, but using our generator for limited
power early in July made me nervous. The generator ran non-stop for
approximately 18 hours. I wasn't sure if that was something it should be doing!
It also opened my eyes to the fact that I should probably get the system looked
at and tuned up, which we did. Thankfully even though it is an older unit, it
is still in pretty good shape. Nonetheless it cost me more money than I
expected, but isn't that always the case these days?
With so much rain this
summer it's been hard to get out and enjoy the things that we do when the
weather is warmer. I have still managed to get out many days to go for my
walks, but not as much as I would have liked. There were still days where I was
able to go out and enjoy my garden (which was an overgrown mess due to all the
weather and lack of a reliable landscaper until July) but not as much as I
would have liked.
This summer seems to be one
of missed opportunities/activities. The rain held me, and I'm sure others, back
from attending activities both outdoor and indoor. Events were canceled due to
the weather. The events that were held were dampened, at least in my
opinion
Summer, in my mind, has
always been about fun and celebration. This year has our country was supposedly
celebrating with 250th anniversary, but there didn't seem to be much to
celebrate. How could we celebrate with all the evil and destruction going on
not just in our world, but in our backyard? How could we have neighborhood
parties we weren't sure that our neighbors would be snatched up ICE (and it
didn't matter if they were US citizens or not). How could we say let freedom ring,
when it wasn't ringing? How could we say liberty and justice for all when
pledging to the flag when there isn't? (One of the reasons I haven't put up in
mine is because I feel it has been damaged and no longer stands for what it
should stand for. How I want to put the flag back up and to proclaim liberty
and justice for all once again. Well I am not naive enough to think that the
phrase perfectly embodied our country, it did once, for the most part, stand or
something.)
It was the summer where
I rarely saw my son. He managed to find a job over the summer (actually a job
that they never wanted him to leave but that's another story) so the only time
I saw him was when I went back to New Jersey for work. He was working retail
and his schedule varied from week to week. However for the most part we could
manage dinner Monday, Tuesday, and sometimes Wednesday nights. His “summer
vacation” was certainly not a vacation. He was supposed to come to the Poconos
and celebrate my birthday with me for 4 days but could not get the time. His
own 21st birthday celebration meant that he only got several hours
of sleep between going out to party and heading back to work the next day. He did
manage to get to the Jersey shore for one brief day, but it certainly wasn't a
real vacation or what you might have expected for the summer.
And so as the summer
unofficially winds down, I look back and think what happened to my summer? While
it did have its ups, like celebrating my Aunt Julie's 100th birthday and
recognizing my son officially becoming an adult earlier this month with dinner
and cake, for the most part this has been a pretty crappy summer. Not at all
what I think any of us wanted or hoped for.
But there is still hope
for the fall. Early autumn has always been my favorite time. Maybe we can still
enjoy some sunny days ahead. Maybe the cooler months will bring us closer to
something good. At least I hope that that is. At least I hope there will be
another summer next year, and maybe that one will be better than this one.
Maybe that one will make us all feel like celebrating.
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