It’s hard to believe, but Labor Day weekend is upon us. Where did the summer go? The washout that was June was replaced by a so-so July and August that featured a few great days, followed by more days of rain.
And now, the leaves have already started showing hues of golden yellow and fiery red. Nights also have that distinct feeling of crispness that have folks reaching for blankets to cover up with. I have already started the routine of going through the house at night to make sure the windows are all closed for fear of hearing the sound of the furnace kicking on.
The past few mornings were exceptionally cool and a quick look at the thermometer showing 44 degrees outside and 60 inside had me reaching for a fleece to cover up with. It can only mean one thing … autumn is slowly creeping in.
For many folks, myself included, fall is a favorite time of year. There are a number of reasons why many feel this way. There is the color explosion that graces so many roads both in town and throughout the countryside. And then there are the wonderful foods that only seem to be fitting when it’s fall.
But somehow it just doesn’t feel right this year.
“It’s too soon for fall” is heard on the lips of most everyone you meet. Everyone, that is, except for fuel oil and wood stove dealers.
Perhaps it’s because we never really had a stretch of super hot weather that left folks running to local stores to purchase air conditioners and fans by the truckload. Sure, there were one or two days when the mercury reached into the 90s, but those were few and far between this summer.
There is still hope, however. It’s not completely uncommon for September to have a few really warm days.
Next Tuesday also marks the first day of school for students in southern Aroostook County. Yet another sign that autumn is arriving. The funny thing is, now that harvest recess is a thing of the past and school doesn’t start until after Labor Day, it still seems too soon.
Some parents may feel otherwise, but in our household I am left with a feeling of sadness, as our children get ready to head back to the classroom. Sure it will be nice to start having more regular schedules, with the kids heading to bed earlier. Of course that also means wrestling away any electronic devices they may try to sneak into their rooms to play with under the covers after the lights go out.
It was far more difficult when I was a child to get away with that sort of thing. We didn’t really have sophisticated hand-held devices to play games on. I remember having an electronic football game that was nothing more than a series of red blinking lights that I would play incessantly, but the constant “bleep-blip-bloop” sounds gave me away no matter how hard I tried to muffle it.
Personally, I feel the summer slipped away without me even knowing it. There were so many things I had hoped to do with the family before the kids went back to school, but now that time is gone. There was also the endless list of “honey do” projects that I kept meaning to get to. I did manage to tackle a few of them, but somehow the list never got any shorter.
Hopefully, there will still be time for at least a few more bicycle rides, swims in the pool or trips to the dairy bar before they close for the season. Maybe it’s just a sign of becoming more mature … or dare I say “older,” but time really does seem to speed up as the years go by.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at pioneertimes@nepublish.com or 532-2281.
