The end of summer… Unless something catastrophic happens, this is a phenomenon experienced by all every single year…
I talked with my brother Jeff yesterday, who told me about his recent visit to the Champlain Valley Fair. In Vermont, back in the days of my youth, this used to be the defining moment where summer ended and back-to-school worries and fall weather began. Which probably accounts for a good portion of my fondness these last 31 or so years for Martha’s Vineyard (I’ve missed a season or two these past three decades…). This island usually finds a way to stretch my favorite season out by at least another month. The warm weather continues and ocean water still beckons well into October.
But I can’t help but note how, this summer in particular, time sure flies. My season started early this time around, as my departure from NYC was on the first day of May. But I was hobbled with a torn meniscus on my right knee that is only gradually getting better right now. I was forced to miss the first couple weeks of brilliant sunshine because of medicine to treat a rather suspicious-looking tick bite. I was out for another July week because of a second-ever bout with Covid. And this time last week I was back in NYC, forced to attend a Housing Court hearing (with details for that one perhaps to be revealed in another, less-joyful blog someday).
So at this moment, I feel like I could blink my eyes and have the rest of my extended summer slip away.
But no…
After the crowds thin out with the conclusion of the Labor Day Weekend, Martha’s Vineyard really returns to a gift that keeps on giving for everyone left behind. The traffic will lessen dramatically, with parking spaces once again plentiful. Neighbors will remember how nice it is to offer a friendly wave as other neighbors pass by. An audible (and perhaps visible?) sigh of relief seems to emanate from every corner of this island.
And yes - for a few blessed weeks, summer appears as if it will go on forever…
Of course, it won’t, and that’s OK; I believe anyone who has spent the majority of their lives in the northeast part of this country has developed a true fondness and appreciation for the four seasons. Personally speaking, I’m every bit as nostalgic when it comes to the Christmas Season, which for me begins the day after Thanksgiving. (I’ve even started putting up Christmas lights over my two brick walls, usually to be taken down a few weeks into the new year…)
But as for now…
I’ll be thanking the heavens for every extra day I find myself swimming in the still-warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I’ll be mindful of the sunsets, embracing whatever less-hectic work shifts remain, reconnecting with friends emerging from their own summer work schedules, and attempting to enjoy each day as much as possible.
And in one month’s time, I’ll be preparing myself for another return to my lovely, fifth-floor studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
(Where I’ll no doubt be getting into politics, even more so than I am now…)
Maybe in a few years I’ll be joining my brother and his family at the Lake Champlain Fair in Essex Junction, Vermont. But any opportunity to prolong the summer will likely never be ignored.
The sun may be setting on the Summer of ’24 but I won’t take these next few weeks for granted. As no one should.
Everyone here at michaelaba.com offers sincere wishes for a vibrant, restful and healthy end of the summer - whatever date that may be for you!
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