As August begins to fade into the Okanagan sunset (heavy sigh) and we begin to talk about the summer of ‘12 in the past tense, and complain about how short it was or how fast it went, it’s worth noting that there are actual reasons why it might be a good thing too.
Of course everyone loves summer, especially around here, but all good things must come to an end sometime, so let’s dwell on a few reasons why it’s not all bad.
Or as I like to call it, the top ten signs that the end of summer and a return to routine in September might be a good thing.
10. When the weatherman says the high today will be only 25 Celsius and you’re more than OK with that fact.
9. When you go to barbecue hamburgers and/or smokies and it’s hard to get excited about having what should be one of your favourite summertime meals. Maybe a little too much of a good thing isn’t so good.
8. When you have plans to go away for the weekend but they fall through and it’s OK because that would be your fifth weekend away from home in a row.
7. When one of your kids comes home at 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday night, with buddy in tow, and accidently wakes you up and you can’t get back to sleep for what seems like hours and then the phone rings at 7:03 a.m. and it’s for that same kid who is being called into work and you gladly go wake him up with the good news and don’t feel sorry for him one bit. Except of course that you have to get up too and go to work.
6. Or the other kid who phones you at work on Thursday and tells you that yes he has finally made an appointment with a counsellor at school, like you have been telling him to do all week, and informs you that it’s on Tuesday at 10:50 a.m. and after you suggest that he can ride his bike he actually complains that it’s too early in the day to be able to do that.
5. The end of the forest fire season before it gets out of hand, hopefully (and a shout out to everyone involved with putting out that fire near The Rise during my holidays, which was near where I live, and helped me appreciate what being on the front lines is all about and how we too often take them for granted – bravo).
4. The end of telling my kids not to stay up too late when I go to bed even though I know they won’t and leaving for work in the morning wondering when they will actually get up and if it will still be a.m. when that happens.
3. With the Olympics over there is absolutely nothing worth watching on TV and maybe, just maybe, the fall will bring something better, although if you’re a hockey fan it’s hard to be optimistic.
2. September is actually a better month than August for sports like golf, tennis and anything that requires the least bit of effort because it ain’t so damn hot.
1. Let’s face it, I’m not exactly bronze god material so me and my farmer tan are more than ready for the end of summer.
Of course this list would be incomplete if it didn’t have the fact that soon I get to watch the kids get up in the morning and go back to school.
But that’s such a no-brainer for any parent that it kind of goes without saying.
We love them, of course, but like hamburgers and smokies too much of a good thing can start to weigh on you a bit.
I think it was just last week I lost it when the youngest one was going to the show and proclaimed “oh, yeah, I need a ride there, some money, and a ride home.”
The deafening silence on the other end of the phone prompted him to quickly say “please,” but it was too late. So now he knows I’m ready for the end of summer. So much so, that he might be too.
– glenn@vernonmorningstar.com
