My begonias, pansies, and geraniums are still blooming, but tomorrow is the first day of fall, and the leaves are starting to turn. I guess it’s time to buy some chrysanthemums.
Fall really is a lovely season, but I’m always a little sad to see summer come to an end. I blame it on my long-ago school days when fall meant the start of classes and the end of picnics, hikes, and long bike rides. No more boating, no more water skiing and swimming in the lake. I always liked school, but summer was special.
I’m not a fan of bucket lists. There’s something that seems a little off about trying to collect experiences the way you’d collect ceramic chickens. Don’t get me wrong. Travel is great, but aren’t some of our most enjoyable experiences spontaneous? So … I don’t make a list of all the things I must do to take advantage of each summer. And yet, the season seldom disappoints.
My photo album holds a few memories of these last few days of summer.
A super low tide on the Edmonds waterfront. Even though I can walk along the waterfront any time of year, this summer day was special, not only for its low tide but because I was enjoying it with one of my grandsons. Now he’s back in Maryland, busy with studies and soccer.
I doubt that many of you have a high school class classmate like John. At some point after one of our big reunions, John decided to take it up on himself to keep us all connected with frequent (and I do mean frequent) emails and invitations to gatherings large and small.
This one was big: our shared birthday. A consequential one. You can figure it out from the cake. On Sept. 9, more than 50 of us met for spareribs, side dishes, and cake at Gary and Kris’s place on the lake. It was a beautiful day. And for our age, we were all looking pretty darn good.
I love lakes and the sea, but summertime also calls out for one more thing: a walk in the forest.
And now …. Hello fall.
Your line about “ceramic chickens” made me laugh. There are some things some people have always wanted to do, but yeah, the term “bucket list” has rather cheapened the idea. It seems more like a to do list than a dream vacation.
I’m glad you understand. I was almost afraid to mention my feelings. Most people seem to love the idea of a bucket list. Many years ago, we knew someone who had a map on the wall with pins in all the places they’d visited. Something about it seemed kind of shallow to both me and my husband.
Summer where you are sounds absolutely lovely Nicki. I don’t cope with the higher temperatures anymore, strange for someone who spend their childhood in the tropics, but there you are. I put it down to hormones, or a lack of them, but HRT is not for me after my brush with cancer.
I also have a social butterfly in my school circle and did attend my one and only school reunion through her organising. There’d been a couple before she found me, but the one I attended was – sadly – the last one. I got to catch up with a host people and what they’d done, although not with those who’d I’d been closest to in school, as they don’t live in the UK. One day maybe…
I tend to stay out of the sun when it’s too hot–which is what lots of people did in the tropics–stay in the shade or carrying an umbrella. Here in Western Washington, we have pretty mild weather, so we don’t have too much trouble with high temperatures. So far at least.
Although many/most of my classmates moved away after graduation, following jobs or dreams or adventure. I was surprised to see that quite a few of them either stayed around or came back after a few decades.
The end of summer always made me terribly sad. So I moved to the land of perpetual summer ~> so much better!
Enjoyed your photo journal of summer’s end.
I’m glad you enjoy your perpetual summer, Nancy. When I lived in the tropics, I never thought to miss the seasons. Some people complained about it. But when I moved back, I remembered how nice the autumn is. I could do without winter, though.
I need a friend with a lake house! Looks (and sounds) lovely!
It was beautiful, Kate. They have a couple of speed boats and children and grandchildren on the next property, so it gets plenty of use.
It sounds like you have a social butterfly in your realm now. Getting together with classmates, eating ribs, not all bad. The cake is cute.
Not everyone wants to get together that often, but when you do, it’s usually not long before the next gathering. I’m not one of the big social butterflies, but this party was fun. I hadn’t see a couple of old friends who live far away for a long time. That’s a bear cub on the cake, our school mascot.