So Long Summer?

I think most of us look forward to summer.  (I know there has got to be someone out there who doesn't.)  Besides warm weather it means longer days, no school, family vacations and more. What's not to like about that?  (Ok, so there is humidity, noisy air conditioning units and those damned cicada killer wasps...)

While summer is NOT my favorite season (SURPRISE!  That goes to autumn...EARLY autumn to be exact), it runs a close second and it IS my favorite time of year.  (Take that Christmas!)  

In the book of Bfth (No, it's not an official book...yet....), you can forget the calendar.  Summer begins the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and ends on the first day of school (which should be AFTER Labor Day), but also can peek its head up on weekends BEFORE Memorial Day and AFTER Labor Day.  (Such is the twisted logic of Bfth.) As a season it flies by faster than any other.  (You KNOW winter drags on and on and on. How many days is February?  37?  42?)  One minute it's 4th of July and the next it's back to school and yet, looking back Independence Day seems so long ago!

As August winds down it's becoming abundantly, and sadly, clear that summer is coming to a close.  I don't want to say so long summer, but with only two weeks left of summer vacation left for my son, I know that I must.  

There are two markers that clearly delineate that summer is coming to a close:

• Dark Mornings:  It's almost always dark when I get up to walk, even at the height of summer.  (I start as early as 4:15; crazy I know!).  But during those wonderful weeks in June and July, the sun rises quickly.  The darkness is brief.  There is a joy walking as the day begins to break and shapes begin to take on color and life.  But as August arrives, the dark lasts longer.  And LONGER!   I'm no longer certain that the animal dashing down the path is a fox.  (This was the first year that I was able to clearly see foxes in town.  I'd always *thought* I'd seen one, but in the dim light I could never been 100% certain. This year I'm not only certain, but I've seen them in several different places around town:  by the park, by the high school and at the end of my block.  Amazingly I saw THREE just the other day on the edge of the field at the park, ready to dash into the brush.)  Walking is more difficult when it is dark; especially if you are a prone to klutziness like I am.  It's harder to see items that might trip you up and of course it's harder for people to see you.  Which is why I SHOULD wear my reflective vest, but when it is hot and humid out who wants to add layers?  Daylight is now only starting to appear around 6 in the morning where it once was light before 5.  This is a painful reminder of summer's end and that soon it will still be dark when I try to roll my son out of bed.  (It's easier to rise and shine when the sun has already risen and is shining!)  To me the dark of the morning brings forth a cold dread.

• Teacher Assignments/Class Schedule:  "Back in the Day" homeroom teacher assignments could be found posted on the windows outside of the middle school maybe a week before school started.  Days of yore when research had to be done in a library and not on computer.    Those were the also the days when school supplies were a couple of pens and notebooks.  This year's list is slightly shorter than previous; only 34 rows on my excel spreadsheet. I've also been putting off the inevitable assembly of items so we can see what is missing.  I've slowly purchased a few items (like a new pencil carrying case which, in my opinion, was way over price and will also tear halfway through the year which is why I also, secretly, purchased another, cheaper version at the dollar store).  Since I spent a small fortune last year (and who doesn't these days?), my son will be reusing some of his binder/notebooks. (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/somwad-supply-list.html and https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/somwad-nightmare-is-over-supply-list.html).  I have learned from past mistakes, that those Mead -Star Flex 5-Subject College Ruled Refillable Notebooks generally DO hold up pretty well.  They may be pricey, but 3 out of 4 made it through the year and the one that DID fall apart during the year was replaced by Mead after I complained about it.  (Also, of course, after I had purchased another one.  So I have a spare still waiting in the wings.)  When it comes to school supplies the maxim "the cheap comes out expensive" is truer than true.   The fact that my son's class schedule has been posted tells me that summer is on its way out and that my dining room table is soon to once again become an assembly line of classroom supplies.

So I sadly resign myself to the fact that it's time to say so long to the summer.  To try and cherish these last few weeks where traffic is not quite so bad.  (Unless you are headed to the shore on the parkway.)  And to take some time to do the "fun" things (like visit the local ice cream parlor and relish that mindless summer read).  It won't be long before summer fades like a warm sunset.