Summer's Winding Down
While the temperature on the thermometer is registering summer (upper 80s and humid), there's no question that the summer is winding down. My daughter's summer camp just ended and we've already hit the supply aisle at Target for the best deals on back-to-school items for my middle schooler and high school sophomore.
But, where has the summer gone? For those of us along the mid-Atlantic region of the country, it really hasn't felt much like summer this year. I experienced some of the hottest temperatures of the season (upper-90s) when I was in Orlando in mid-June. Yes, it's gotten a bit hotter here in the mid-Atlantic these past few weeks, but not as some of the hottest summer's I remember in recent years.
Now, I'm not at all complaining. A colleague recently commented how this summer in our area of the country reminded him of summers in Maine when he was a child. Cool evenings, enough for a light jacket, with the crickets chirping in the background.
That image in my mind took me back to my childhood memories of summers in Connecticut, when without the comfort of air conditioning (how did we live without it?), I'd lie across my bed, as still as possible, with a low-light on, listening to the Boston Red Sox on the AM radio. What's that, the younger generation asks? It was a device that played top-quality music ("Summer Breeze" by Seals & Crofts or "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago come to mind) and all associated noises, such as when a thunderstorm was in the area on a hot summer's night and you could hear the crackle on the radio! Curt Gowdy's voice echoed from the small radio at times. If you were lucky, you could even hear the bat striking the ball..."High line drive into deep center field, it's off the Green Monster, Yastrzemski is on second with a lead-off double..." Well, actually my childhood memories have vivid reminders of the Red Sox almost always behind their opponent, but it was fun to lie across my twin bed and listen to the game, nonetheless. That was summer.
Summer was also a drive through the Connecticut countryside, on our way to Old Saybrook, Conn. -- our closest connection to the cool ocean on a hot summer day in August, even if we didn't go in the water on that particular day. It was summer as pleasure boats, yachts and sailboats dotted the Connecticut River where it fed into the Long Island Sound.
Children and families played miniature golf, people dined on seafood at the outdoor seating area at Dock & Dine at Saybrook Point, or we strolled along the docks at the Saybrook Point Marina.
So, it's back to reality now -- back to school, back to the work that never seems to subside and back to another of my favorite times of the year, autumn. While maybe not as symbolic of the fall season in New England, the Poconos of Pennsylvania offer quite an outstanding fall leaf coloring show in their own right.
Soon enough the snowflakes (my fingers crossed!) will drop from the sky, and we'll be again looking forward to another spring and summer.
I hope your summer was filled with much rest and relaxation. I know that I've enjoyed mine.