not quite the end of summer

Our Labor Day consisted of a soggy five-hour drive home from a weekend with friends and dogs in West Virginia. We started the summer with a trip to the beach over Memorial Day weekend with this same group of friends. The season was bookended by these two trips - properly rung in in May and rung out in September with cold beers, bonfires, and meals cooked on the grill. But what happened to June, July and August? These months just seemed to vanish into the ether. Poof! and summer's over.

It's probably quite obvious, but I'm not quite at all ready for summer to be over. Over the weekend, my friend Jen and I were talking about how no other season has two holidays to define its beginning and end. While I love the long weekends created by Memorial Day and Labor Day, these holidays seem to make the season shorter and emphasize the fact that from Labor Day until the next Memorial Day it isn't summer. Boo.

And while Fall might be my favorite season - I love hiking over crunchy leaves among the changing foliage, baking desserts with apples and pumpkins, and spending time outside without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes - the problem with Fall is that it leads to winter, my most detested time of year. I am not happy when I see Halloween decorations for sale in August or Christmas displays set up in September. Why won't society get off my #$%&@ lawn! stop rushing through the current seasons and let me live in the moment?!

So, I may be in denial, but as far as I'm concerned, summer isn't over until September 22nd - the official last day of summer. I have 16 more days to attempt to desperately cross a few more summery activities off my Summer List. Two more weeks to eat popsicles, squeeze in a kayaking trip, and perhaps sneak in a late summer beach trip.

That is, if the weather cooperates. It isn't looking good:

Thanks for the slap in the face, Mother Nature!

Gravy's in denial, too. This is how my weird headless dog slept in the car during the drive home yesterday:

September 23rd: The first day of Fall. Until then, it's still summer!

(All photos taken during our drive home yesterday with my iPhone and processed using CameraBag.)