Things are underway here for Emma's birthday celebration which is really more of a birthmonth celebration - her bd seems to stretch from mid-August to the first week of school. (Around the Fourth of July she begins asking for things, saying, "But it's soooo close to my birthday..." )
Her bd also means summer is nearing its end which is always bittersweet. I'm not sure I actually believe that last sentence - everyone always says it, but I never want to see summer end. Summer is my absolute favorite season and seems about as long as a three day weekend. But in honor of its end, it's time for a seasonal assessment. These are the three top things I remember about this summer:
1. We went to Exit 0 on the Garden State Parkway. I never knew there was an Exit 0, but on the way to ride go karts (see #2) we decided to travel south just to see Exit 0. I thought it was the perfect name for a YA novel.
1. We went to Exit 0 on the Garden State Parkway. I never knew there was an Exit 0, but on the way to ride go karts (see #2) we decided to travel south just to see Exit 0. I thought it was the perfect name for a YA novel.
2. My kids can talk me into almost anything. I was taking THEM to ride go karts. I brought the camera and drinks, never expecting that they expected me to actually go around the track with them. I am seriously not mechanical and these particular go karts had the look of reimagined lawn mowers. "I am NOT getting on that thing," I remember saying. Five minutes later, Philip and Emma waved as they passed me on the track.
9 Comments on Late Summer, last added: 8/22/2011
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Hello Anne,
I would just like to tell you that I read and enjoyed The Shape of Water enormously. You are a very talented writer indeed. I am not sure I have ever felt quite so close to a character as I did to the honest and brave Magda in your story. Wonderful job, wonderful book.
Thank you,
Ellen Diniven
How funny, I too, think of the new year beginning in September. Funnier still, I did not have a traditional garden either, but my buried pumpkin sprouted vines as well.
And I think Exit 0 would be a fantastic name for a YA.
Thank you so much for writing, Ellen! I'm answering your email as my very next one : )
Happy New Year, Anne! New Year's Eve never did much for me - the first day of classes always has much more of that "new" feeling to it.
And we'll both have to make a lot of pumpkin muffins this fall. What is it about things growing that makes us so happy?
I am the same way about the start of the new year...always in September instead of January. I guess that's the teacher in me.
I hope my year is filled with unexpected pumpkins as well!
Shelley
Shelley, maybe September is the spiritual start of the new year? I just know it feels more like a beginning than the week after Christmas ever did.
I think your year IS going to be filled with surprise pumpkins - your writing seems to be going in a great direction!
I think LOTS of people feel the new year starts in September! I love summer, too. As much as I love beautiful fall days and macintosh trees heavy with apples, the passing of summer is poignant in a way the other changes of season aren't.
I would have tried the go-carts. Look like a lot of fun.
Summer's always been my favorite season too. Never had to be in school on my birthday, hung out at the beach all day....But this summer the only thing I've done is pretty much stay indoors because it's so d**n hot! And there doesn't appear to be any relief in sight.
Exactly, Marcia. Poignant is the perfect word. Autumn is beautiful in its own way, but not like summer.
Sorry to hear about the heat, Bish, but overall, you live in the best place of all my bloggy friends. Once it passes, you are basically in Paradise.
I can tell just from your sense of humor that you WOULD try those gokarts, no persuasion needed. And you're right, once I got out there, I felt pretty cool (well, for me)