Bye Bye "Boardwalk".....

I'm not above admitting that I was nearly in tears on the drive home from Michele's last night. I had told myself we wouldn't be leaving until after the Boise State-Virginia Tech game (Beavers, it's up to you now....!) so up until that point, everything was held at bay. All of the reality check, all of the worries, all of the sadness of leaving behind the goodness that was this summer. On the drive home, all of that putting-off finally caught up with me, and I felt, for lack of a better word, "desolate".

This morning, I read one of my favorite local writers, Bob Welch, as he described in his tri-weekly Register Guard column about his feeling of losing summer. It affirmed why I love this guys so much, I could COMPLETELY relate:

"I understand the pull of autumn. I heard a couple of young mothers the other night all but counting down the days until the kids are back in school. I'm all for leaf-covered paths and dried cornstalks and Autzen ablaze in green and yellow.

But, I'm like my 5-year old grandson, who, told by his folks that it's time to go, will say: 'Just a few more minutes, just a few more minutes.....'"

He goes on to describe what made this summer so special for him then says this:

"If I'm an equal-opportunity seasons guy and love a good three-day rain, nevertheless I am, at my core, a summer guy. In the Monopoly game of life, summer is the Park Place/Boardwalk side of the board: the same size and structure of the the other three sides, just a touch more valuable."

OK, I SO RELATE TO THAT! Yes, summer is my Park Place/Boarkwalk time of year - the time of most value, most memories (and hence, the most blog posts!). Of course, Christmastime, and autumn are amazing, but it's that drop off at the end (almost like the JAIL on Monopoly) that I always find myself aware of, lurking right around the corner of those magnificent festivities. Come Memorial Day weekend in late May - well, the sky is the limit for all of the fun yet to be had......

So, in that same Monopoly analogy, I guess it's time to pass "GO" again, (wish we could collect $200!) and start the school-year annual routines again. Tomorrow that begins; clothes set out, backpacks packed, lunches planned......bye-bye "Boardwalk"!