Waning Summer

Yesterday I started the car's heater on my way to work. Last night I closed the front door because I was cold. And when I went running this morning I wished I were wearing long sleeves. These events, though small, collectively sent a chill down my spine. I don't have a problem with fall or winter--its not like I want to move somewhere equatorial where the seasonal changes are limited to rainy and less rainy--I enjoy the changing of seasons and the progress they mark. But around here it always seems like summer ends too quickly. I am just getting used to shorts, flip flops, and cars that are too hot to climb into and then its over. Its back to school, with socks, shoes and jackets, and starting the car five minutes before departure time to reduce the likelihood that your wet hair will stick, frozen to the seat as you climb in.

Its bad enough that by the end of June, when officially summer is just beginning, the minutes start falling off of the sun-brightened days, foreshadowing summer's own demise. But this year July slipped by, and August is well on its way to just a memory, and I am still trying to work on my tan and get into the habit of afternoon's at the pool. I keep thinking we're just getting started but then have face-slapping reminders that in fact, we are nearing fall and winter will be just around the corner.

As Calder said, trying to calm my fears about time flooding by, not like a trickling stream, but a flash flood, gushing through a desert wash, "the good thing about time going by so fast is that it will be summer again before we know it." He's got a point.