Adios Summer

Today is the first day of October, the month that usually starts a rapid descent into wintry holiday bliss. My two favorite seasons have long been fall and spring for the simple reason of their transitional existence. Long hot summer gives way to winter by means of autumn. Cold winter nights slowly succumb to warmth by means of spring. And so it goes, year after year. This year, I am less jubilant at the onset of fall. I woke up this morning thinking about the three months that lie ahead and how quickly they seem to slip by until we are bundled up in snow covered yards with brown grass and leafless trees. The only signs of life will be the few evergreen shrubs in front of our Stoney Creek abode. Halloween, which has already begun, quickly turns to Thanksgiving and before we have our turkey and bountiful cornucopia the aisles at Target are full of Christmas décor. The seasons get longer and longer in a time period that allows for no more time. We wander in a daze for three months trying to remember which holiday is chronologically next while retail invokes our holiday spirit with commercial goods for holiday’s on-deck.

So goodbye summer, I have enjoyed my tan and the blistering heat of the Arizona desert. I have enjoyed my patio time with my buddy Truck and the kegerator always delivering ice cold refreshment. Goodbye lawnmower, for I am not sad to see you winterized, but will miss the fruits of your labor. Sitting in the creek at the camp will be hard to do when the water is frozen. The lush deciduous foliage will soon fade to a dreary brown haze covered by the occasional snow. For some reason, “Hazy Shade of Winter” is playing in my head. Ah, the Bangles, what would we have done without them? With just weeks before the first frost, I am clinging to the last breath of the first summer I have enjoyed in a very long time.

With cautious trepidation, I am hoping to fall in love all over again with each season of the upcoming year. Maybe I will burn some of this nostalgic energy on picking out my Halloween costume, which will certainly propel me into the bliss of autumn. So peace out my dear friend summer, thanks for the memories, cannot wait to meet you back here again next year.