Summer Ends; School Begins

It seem as though summer is wrapping up.  Although my husband reminds me that summer still has several more weeks to go (autumn starts on September 22) once we hit Labor Day weekend it seems like that's it.  (For some people who have kids who go back to school in August, summer may end earlier.)  Although the calendar may tell us that summer began on June 21st and ends on September 22nd and temperatures still soar into the 90s, let's face it, the "summer season" is really from the Friday before Memorial Day till the Tuesday after Labor Day.  That's when we're all in the "summer" frame of mind.  (Teachers, you KNOW what I'm talking about!)  

I know that summer is wrapping up because it is dark when I start my morning walk and doesn't really get light until around 6 in the morning.  Those June mornings when I could get up at 4:30 and see a smidge of sun headed my way is long gone.  The Day-Glo vest is back on and with the humidity (and it has been one heck of humid summer!) it's sticking to me in places that I don't want to even mention.  (And getting UNDRESSED afterwards to get into a cool shower is like some sort of demented dance!)

The sun is fading faster too.  Those times when dusk did not fall until after 8 are gone.  Pretty soon I'll want to be crawling into bed at 7!  Ok, I do like to crawl into bed early since I'm up before dawn, but in the summer months my internal clock resets and it's easy to get up in the morning because of the early dawn and harder to want to go to bed since the sky is still light.

This has been one strange summer.  It started out hot...really hot.  (Nothing like marching in the 4th of July parade in Civil War period dress when it's 95 degrees!) Then the weather was typical.  But in August we had some cool days...before it got really hot again.  I can't count how many heat wave advisories I got this summer on my phone.  And then there was the rain.  So much rain!  Every day it seemed.  (Although that's not true.)  With crazy flooding that happened in my area in mid-August which actually washed away cars from parking lots!  This summer could be the poster child for climate change!  (Let's not forget about volcanoes spewing, forest fires burning and hail too!  Mother Earth just MIGHT be trying to tell us something.  Maybe it's time we really listened?!?)

Of course the surest sign of the end of summer was apparent when I went to the dollar store last week.  I was searching for Grandparents Day cards!  Yes, it's a thing.  I always forget about it until it's too late and was determined NOT to have that happen this year.  (FYI:  Grandparents Day is the first Sunday AFTER Labor Day.  Now get card shopping!)  Front row display was back to school items.  Immediately behind that was a row of autumn (including Thanksgiving!)/Halloween items, which were also displayed at the front of the numbered aisles.  Third row display was incomplete, but was the beginnings of Christmas.  The card aisle did have the requisite Grandparents Day cards, but there were also cards for Rosh Hashanah, Bosses Day (don't have a date for that one) and Halloween.  Of course hidden far in the back where some Independence Day looking decorations, but...

There's also the dining room table (where nary any dining is done) which is covered with notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, post its...you name it.  It all needs to be labeled and organized before the first day of school.  (It shouldn't take too long now should it?)  So much "stuff" along with locker accoutrements and gym clothes that need to be stuffed into the backpack for the first day.  Don't let me forget the lunch bag...and water bottle.  Why haven't I replenished his cafeteria account yet? Better put that on the to-do list!

When the first day of school rolls around it may be 90 degrees outside (I'm still wishing for "moderate" temperatures...time will tell), but summer is definitely over. Dare I hope for a photo to mark the occasion? (It is my "baby's" last year in middle school.  How could this have happened?)  The crush of cars on the thoroughfare which was pretty much deserted all summer long. (Drivers use caution...PLEASE! Stop signs are NOT optional.  When it says No Right on Red, they mean it!)  The sweaty, exhausted child who navigated the maze of hallways to get from class to class (which will be spread out from one end of the building to another for certain)   will come home with tons of forms and donation requests on that first day.  Better have my checkbook at hand.

Yes, summer is over...school begins.  Bring on the pumpkin spice! (But not until the temperature dips to below 80!)