Growing up, autumn was always my favorite season. I liked school and enjoyed the return to the classroom. I was an overweight child and I think that also played a role because I liked the camouflage of fall and winter attire and the cooler weather was a plus when I was carrying those extra pounds. I got older and, eventually, thinner. I also started working in a school. Summer came to mean lighter clothes and freer days. It came to mean a time when I could read books late into the night and drink a second cup of coffee at my leisure.
More than that, summer has come to be the reward after the long school year. I do work summer school but I had a couple of weeks off in June and all of August and it was totally delightful. As I have written previously, there is an intensity to education which is not the same as other lines of work. Once you begin the year, it is like a marathon. The offset is rife with copious things which must all get done right away then we morph into paperwork which is due at the end of each October. The year spirals along, seemingly on its own axis until it stops in June and we can unwind.
The new school year has begun with many tasks needing attention. The days have been mixed with some very, very hot days followed by some relief. Today hit 90 degrees and the beach was lovely. Juxtaposed to it is another 90 degree day tomorrow. The beach with its sun, sand, and solace will have to sustain me while I trudge through the hot day tomorrow. The view from my beach chair is so much lovelier than the view from room 305 when the air is on broil. It is, after all, the autumnal equinox tomorrow and, if the date says so, the weekday weather should fall in step.
Goodbye my lovely, sunny, carefree summer days. I will miss you and all you bring to my life. As I left Cottage Place beach today for what was my last summer day there for the season, I was wistful as I made my way to my car. After all, we never know what a year will bring. I am always thankful for the days I make it to the sand and I hope to have more summer days to come.