~Labor Day is Past~

Is it really, really over? Has summer truly left us and gone where all past summers go? I am just not ready to give it up. I think summer is by far my favorite season. Though I will admit to being one of those who love the change of seasons, I do grieve the loss of my summers.

I remember the summers of my youth. Those lazy, hazy, crazy days. I remember waking late and just lying in my bed contemplating the long languid day ahead. It seems as if the sun always shone in those days. Those were the days before air conditioning and I can remember the heat of the early morning with the sun streaming through my bedroom window. I had the only upstairs bedroom in our house and felt that I was hidden away from the rest of the world.

I'd spend hours and hours lying on my bed reading in the summer. Admittedly, these wonderful times were interspersed with chores. My mom, who worked outside our home, always left a list of things that needed to be accomplished each day. Looking back, I wonder if I tackled those chores as unhappily as my daughters did. My guess would be, yes. I didn't want anything to interfere with those idyllic summer days.

In the evenings we would all gather together in the yard of a little neighborhood manufacturing plant and play hide 'n seek. We'd stay out there as long as we could playing until we would eventually hear the calls. "Bob, Nancy, Pam time for bed." "Bonnie, Linda, Bobbie, come home now." And then, reluctantly, we would bid our friends good-night and drag ourselves home.

I didn't intend to write about that when I sat down at the computer this evening. I was going to post that Jim and I are going to take a little trip down memory lane tomorrow. We're going to drive through the town where Jim went to college and have lunch and walk the campus. This stop will be on our way to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We have both driven by this spot many times and have talked about going there. Just last year, we added it to our "Bucket List". We plan to spend the night in a B&B near there and hike on Thursday.

After this little adventure, we plan to go on to Jim's brother's house and spend a couple of days visiting with Jim's mom and other relatives. I'm looking forward to lunch with my favorite cousin and my aunt on Friday.

When we come back home I plan to get some mums for my planters, go to the farmer's market and buy some tomatoes and peppers to "put by" for winter. I will accept the fact that summer is waning and fall is just around the corner. In the meantime, I'll just be a little sad to see summer go.

I'll leave you with a picture of one of our most beautiful summer sunsets.