Basking by the lighthouse
Grand Bend, Ontario, July 2007 [Click to embiggen]
In my book, summer ends as soon as we move into September. It's no longer summer after everyone's gone back to school and the world has returned to its more sober, vacation-free routine.
I find this more than a little depressing because I really like this season and hate to see it end. Even though I've been working continuously through the last few months, just knowing that it's summer outside somehow manages to lighten my mood as I tap away at the keys.
I like knowing that we can throw our huge blanket into the trunk and head to the beach on the weekend. I like how the sun sets late into the evening, and how the kids have that much more bounce in their step because they're not weighed down by books and assignments. I like how things seem simpler when it's sunny and warm outside. I guess I just like the attitude of the season.
So when the days get short and the kids load up on homework, I look back at pictures like this in the hope that for a fleeting moment, I'll be taken back to a moment when my biggest worry was when I would dip my toe into the churning surf.
Your turn: What's going through your mind as summer draws to a close?
Even though they say summer doesn't end until Sept 20 - I'm like you - it ends when the kids go back to school. That's when it would end when I was a child.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss the bright light - but not the humidity...this year was a little warm.
I anticipate fall because of the beautiful colors and the cool evening breezes...knowing that winter will be here in short order. Fall always seems like the shortest season to me...Winter can at times be long in New England but I love the cleanness of it - and the time to spend working on quilts and items that are too big to work on during the warmer months.
I stopped by early because Michele sent me...otherwise it would have been in the morning!
Well, I'm all for summer and autumn, but those winters you can keep. Spring is always welcome.
ReplyDeleteI know right now that autumn is just around the corner because our little corner of the world is loaded with Monarch butterflies heading south to Mexico. They're mighty purdy.
Here from Michele's, but I might start coming by more frequently.
Have a good holiday weekend.
Sniff. Pass the tissues please. I am so with you on this one. The kids started school on August 1st but it was still summer. We are heading on out to my folks this weekend for a big end of the summer bash. Well, not really but you get the picture.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Carmi!
Hi Carmi! Thanks for your warm comment - I have been out of it for a few. :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm.. summer ends. I keep sending the kids outside to play - it won't be long till it's too cold for them to play outside. I've been spending a bunch of time out of doors as well - which is why I haven't spent so much time on the computer. :0)
I'll be missing the green grass, the lazy days of sitting on a blanket at the park, the enjoyment of driving in the mtns. worry-free (no ice). I DO enjoy fall, but winter, no so much.
Yeah, I'm with you, Carmi. It seems that we're so full with soccer, dance, scouts, and all the rest that I can barely breathe. Our summers are a direct contrast: as few commitments as possible.
ReplyDeleteIn another week or so, once I'm settled in and things are in full swing, I may feel differently. These transitions are always a bit hard on me.
I was saving this for a Michele sent me post --- but if I am your official stalkee, I thought that I should post it anyway:-)
ReplyDeleteThis summer has been immensely special: the children surfing, and swimming, and surviving: thriving and growing: and as the summer has faded here to just a continuing experience of excessive heat, plus school, we realise that our freedom is gone. We *will* be free again, another summer, to frolic, to play, to *be*.... We just have to wait!
Best,
N.
lately, a song lyric from vienna teng has been running through my head:
ReplyDelete"summer move forward and stitch me the fabric of fall."
i see good things for me this fall. better things than i've seen in quite sometime.
i'm ready for summer to end.
Our summer vacations ended on July 1. So I am already deep into routine. It is still very humid here. That gets to me.
ReplyDeleteI hate the heat though 42-46 degrees C leaves not much scope for any thing else other than staying at home.
I do like the long lazy days, as you call it.More time for myself. Not that lack of time has stopped me from doing any thing I want to.
You know Michele sent me here to ruminate yet again.
Soon it will be cool and breezy and my power bill will get a break. And pumpkins!
ReplyDeleteSorry, man. I am hating summer right now.
I'm torn on the seasons --- here in the SE US, there are two seasons: bleaugh, and hot. Never cold enough for winter, sneeze and you miss spring: summer goes on forever, long after the end of summer: and actually, the fall is pretty nice. Pretty trees, nice weather, I can take the fall. Mid September, maybe early October: through, oh, early November.
ReplyDeleteI miss having four seasons!
Michele always sends me: tonight she sent me too!
N.
Summer ends when the pool closes. Somehow I feel the summer ending means the end of the year is almost here, from here on out it's a downhill slide to new years.
ReplyDeletemichele sent me
Kinf of excited as both of mine will now be in preschool for the mornings every day~ whatever will I do to fill the time!
ReplyDeleteThe days are shorter, meaning bed times are not so rough...dark means sleep for us!
I wish we had more of a fall, but in TX that just doesnt' happen...oh well.
Best of all, only four more months until my husband is home!
couldn't of worded it any better myself -- sad indeed.
ReplyDeletegreat lighthouse shot
lighthouses remind me of foghorns, which remind me of Scooby Doo.
I'm not all that bummed out. The weather will get cooler, school starts back up again and in no time snow will be covering the Sierra Nevadas. Still, at some level it does bring up a certain sense of loss...
ReplyDeleteMike
We've not had much of a summer weatherwise, so I'm dreading winter. And I hate it when my kids go back to school :(
ReplyDeleteWhat's going through your mind as summer draws to a close?
ReplyDeleteTime to reach for my prozac......
btw - had a look at your Dora post. Wow, that was funny.....I am so cynical about children's TV these days.
Michele sent me to see why you're so darned happy.... :-)
cq
Our summer weather lasts through mid-October, but our more rigid school routine starts on Tuesday. I'll miss summer, but we're ready, I think.
ReplyDeletefor me, this year, the end of summer is doubly hard because my wee boy is going off to the first grade. while a part of me is always happy when school starts up again (freedom? for ten minutes? hayay!) i am also one to struggle with missing them while they are away. and now with his going to school all day long? i am really not happy. granted, he will come home for lunch but he's going to be ticked about it so, you know, good times.
ReplyDeleteSince the Short People are rapidly learning to qualify as contestants in the World Wrestling Federation, I am hearing a refrain of "It's the most wonderful time of the year..."!
ReplyDeleteThank god. I hate heat. I hate humidity. I hate overcrowded roads with oblivious drivers. I like books, pumpkin pie, that chill in the air and all the color. BRING ON FALL.
ReplyDelete:-)
Stop over my place for my thoughts on the end of summer, the beginning of school, and the start of more grey hair for me. Glad I'll have more free time to get a dye job. Here via Michele!
ReplyDeleteSummer? Summer? Wait - *sticks her hand outside* for us here in Australia - but more importantly - South Australia - we are drawing closer and closer to Summer everyday. Your believe your summer ends when Sept begins? Out winter ends the same for me. Sept's here. Bring on the sunny days and spring. Spring! How I love thee [I love all the seasons individually]. We're not going to have good crops this year, but well its nice to no longer have that cold moment too often. Infact - it wasn't that cold here for winter at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed at how the world is so different in climate and culture no matter which continent you are on. Facinating.
How are you Carmi? I hope things are going well for you and your family and new job!
Take care mate!
Ravvy
Good eye! You are correct about location of the lighthouse.
ReplyDelete