Labor Day

It’s the end of summer. No, not officially. The season doesn’t change until September 22nd but today is Labor Day and it is generally thought that this is the last weekend of the summer. Days are getting noticeably shorter, kids are back in school, vacations are over, and some of the leaves have already started to change.

I really don’t have a favorite season. I can see the beauty and joy in each season. The colors of the fall as the earth gives one more glorious shot of beauty before the cold deadness of winter. The sheer cold whiteness of winter when its dark most of the time but still light from the snow and a fluffy fresh snow makes the world look like God has sugar coated it. The re-birth of spring when the ground is damp and things are starting to grow and the colors are delicate and bright. Then the warmth and light of summer with the deep greens of grass and trees and the brilliant blue of the sky and water. All in all, there is beauty to be found no matter what the season.

In talking with my brother last night, we were discussing whether or not we would get one more boat ride in before summer was done. After all, just because it is warm enough to play outside doesn’t mean it’s warm enough to be on the water. It can be pretty nippy out on the water this time of year.

The discussion reminded me of when our dad would want to put the pool away for the year. We had a large above-ground pool and, every fall, Dad would put an inner tube in the center of the pool and then tie a pool cover over the top. I hated when this happened. I love to swim and would be in the pool all day long, every day, all summer long. So when I would see Dad pulling the inner tube and cover out of the garage, I would rush inside, throw my swimsuit on and run outside yelling for Dad to wait a minute. I needed to have one more swim. He would try to talk me out of it because he thought it was too cold. But I would insist and climb in the pool. Oh yeah, it was cold. But exhilarating! I would swim around, ducking under water and coming back up over and over again. Dad would patiently stand there and wait. He would ask me if I was cold and I would tell him that I wasn’t cold because I had gone numb within a minute or two of being in the water. After about five minutes, I would duck under one more time, climb out, wrap myself in a towel and watch Dad put the pool to bed for the winter. One last swim to finalize a glorious summer of swimming and fun. I must say, my father was a patient man to indulge his daughter that way. And I loved him for that patience.

Yeah, summer is finally winding down. I don’t have a pool to swim in one more time but maybe my brother and I will get one more boat ride in before it gets too cold. It may not have been the warmest and driest summer here in Maine but the last few weeks have been glorious and I’m glad the season is ending with beautiful weather!

PS: Ted and I did go boating this evening. Yes it was a little cool toward the end but I had brought a sweater so it wasn’t too bad. We are still hoping for one more boat ride either this week or next before we finally have to give up for the season. If the days will stay just a little warm for a while longer.