Summer is Winding Down

.....or so it feels like.

But the calendar on my wall protests.
"For crying out loud," it says to me...."we're still in the month of JULY!!! What do you mean , 'summer is winding down??' "

But no matter what the calendar says, I know the end of summer is near because the signs are all evident:

The butterflies have become bored and irritable.
The things that make that kind-of buzzy, droning sound in the trees in late summer? Cicadas maybe? Anyway..... they're here.
The crickets are chirping earlier.
The pool toys at Wal-Mart have been replaced by school supplies.
School systems around here get started August 4 which is ohmygosh, next week.

See what I mean? You can't ignore the signs. We'll start our school year next week too. And even though my heart rebels at starting school in early August, my mind knows there is some wisdom in it. Once the idleness of our lazy summer mornings has been replaced by some structured learning, I don't think I'll hear as many sister squabbles or complaints about being bored. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking, but we might as well start when everyone else does. It gives us more freedom to take days off when it's not oppressively hot outside.

The beginning of the school year always feels a little schizophrenic though. The smell of schoolbooks, the sound of the pencil sharpener, the order of the lessons.... together they drum up a cool-weather mindset, especially if you turn up the AC :) Then you go outside after supper and feel slightly off-kilter for a minute, because the evening air lets you know that summer is still here.

Here's to the beginning of the end of summer.