So Long, Summer

Seeing the summer come to an end is always a sad moment.  When it's on its way, you can feel the excitement in the air.  And then it's gone before you know it.

It feels just like yesterday when I went upstate with my Uncle Eric.  We arrived late at night in the middle of June.  It was quiet and somewhat chilly.  Most of the people hadn't yet gotten there but I knew that they would, and soon.   I kept thinking about having the whole summer to look forward to and spending many weekends up at Brant Lake.  That's why Uncle Eric and I "summerized" our trailer and cleaned up everything that had fallen (leaves, branches and even kitchen ceiling tiles) over the winter.

I went up again with my Grandma and Grandpa on July 1st, two days before the rest of the family would arrive for the Fourth of July holiday weekend.  And it was a great weekend with the family (despite breaking my toe) and, by the end of that weekend, I made the decision to spend another week up there.  I spent that week hanging out on the beach with some kids that feel like my younger cousins.  There were also the two kids Nick and Tyler, who met me every morning at 10:30 to take the boat out for a few hours to go swimming and again at night to look up at the stars (while somehow fitting intense games of Uno H2O and Monopoly in between).  I just felt like a kid as I had no schedule to follow and could play all day and night.

Later that month, my friend Dylan from Milwaukee made the trip out here.  He had never before been to New York City and so I got to be his tour guide (though I'm more tourist than guide).  We checked out, among others, Times Square, Bryant Park and Top of the Rock.  We also toured ABC News/ABC 7, CBS 2 and CNN -- all very fun.

A week later, I went with my friend Chris as he moved to Philadelphia ahead of starting dental school.  Helping him settle in to his new place was fun but the highlight was going to a Phillies game at the last minute -- so last-minute that we could only get standing room tickets.  Seeing Citizens Bank Park really makes me look forward to Citi Field next year.  (And the Phillies lost in extras!!)

Then the next week, my sister and I drove up to the Boston area to visit some friends.  Jaclyn spent two nights with her old roommate and I hung out with my friend Kim.  The second night, Kim's awesome family brought me along to a Red Sox game.  Wow, Fenway is really cool.  I couldn't believe I was really there.

Other than that, I've just been hanging out with friends and going upstate a few more times.

People like to call Labor Day the unofficial end of summer but I think my summer ended the weekend before, the last time I was upstate.  I saw a bunch of people taking their boats out of the lake, a sure sign that the summer has come to an end.

There's always next summer...