Savoring Summer: The Weeds Can Wait

As I stood in front of the dry erase calendar and wrote the schedule for this week, I stopped dead in my tracks. Was August 20 actually this Saturday? How could Friday be the last day of camp? HAD I REALLY NOT WEEDED THE GARDEN YET?

Sometime between cranking the A/C and buying school supplies it happens to everyone. We’re never ready for it and no matter how intently we watch the calendar it always sneaks up on us.

Although we’re all grown up now and the words “Summer Vacation” don’t always involve two full months of playtime, July and August always seem to go by twice as fast as January and February do. One day, you’re sending cupcakes for the end of school party and the next you’re at Staples picking up notebooks and pencils.

There I was, starting to freak out about all of the things that I hadn’t gotten to yet. I was hoping to sort, back up and create photo books out of the thousands of pictures sitting on our hard drive. I was going to work with Georgia every weekend and make sure that she would be riding her two-wheeler like a pint-sized Lance Armstrong. I hoped I would finish a book in time for at least one book club this summer. And of course, the aforementioned overgrown garden.

I’m lucky I haven’t lost a child in that mess.

Rather than embrace my inner Debbie-Downer, I decided that it was a colossal waste of time to focus on what I hadn’t done and redirect my thoughts on all that we had.

We spent with my mom, the cousins, aunts and uncles. The weather was perfect, the food was out of this world (the kids even ate a few vegetables and some fish) and we logged some serious time at the beach.

Ben, Andy and the Dedham 10s summer baseball team won their and . We cheered for the kids, had and watched the boys finish with their heads held high. It was a great time to be from Dedham.

Our neighborhood felt like most happening place in town. It seemed as though every time we’d walk to the end of the driveway, an impromptu pool party, BBQ or cocktails-on-the-deck affair came together. The kids played with each other until it was time for bed and the grownups enjoyed the casual outdoors.

We had a chance to spend overnights with the Shumway grandparents and cousins at their New Hampshire lakefront cottage. The older kids swam, played dodge ball, and turned about 18 miles of gimp into key chains at Nobles Day Camp. Perhaps my crowning glory was getting everyone hooked on Shark Week. We watched hours of Discovery Channel documentaries and are already counting down the days until next year.

So, with Summer 2011 coming to a close, I’m savoring the memories and trying not to watch the calendar too closely. Another successful season: lots of fun, plenty of laughs, and great tans to boot.

As for the garden, well, that’s what Labor Day weekend is for.