Summer already seems long ago. No more are the green leaves on the trees, The days when you can just sit on the porch doing nothing. For many students the end of summer also represents the start of the school year, and therefor a loss of freedom and the varied opportunities that only accompany summer. This change is always very gradual and sometimes hard to notice, but it does have some very noticeable effects. These effects or symptoms as some would call them include the leaves changing color and falling down, the air getting significantly cooler in the mornings, and of course the plague of fatigue that always follows a late night doing homework. These things are not all bad, and some of them can be quite enjoyable, like the leaves for instance, but these things all represent the end of summer.
To get things straight I feel like I should talk a little about what summer is like for me and many of my peers. We have very little responsibility aside from the typical summer job. This lack of responsibility gives anyone the opportunity to truly let go and enjoy the moment. I made a goal at the beginning of this past summer that I would enjoy some if not the majority of the experiences that I could truly let go and live for the moment. I did a very good job with this goal, and gained a variety of experiences from it. One of my favorite experiences was stargazing. My itinerary for 3 or 4 nights during the summer had this in the program, and I would suggest it to anyone looking for something to do on a clear summer night. Staring up at the night sky, full of lights and potential, is a guaranteed way to make you smile and look into the persons eyes that you are sharing the moment with. Another thing that is a must do in the outdoors in-between the months of May and September is watch a sunrise. When I say that I don’t mean getting there in the middle of the miracle but being there from the beginning, from the moment that the sky first starts to light up to the moment when the sun first starts to poke over the horizon. This process is so gradual, and yet so quick at the same time, like a clock with no second hand. At first it appears that the clock is unmoving, but if you glance away for just a little bit, the minute hand moves further than you would’ve imagined. These moments are more valuable than I can express, and made even more valuable by the fact that they are seasonal. I would give anything for it to be summer year round, but that wish in and of its self would be self defeating, because we cannot appreciate something to it’s full potential unless we experience life without it, even though the time without it is sometimes long, and not nearly as pleasant as the thing which we love. Summer starts on the 21st of June, and although it is a long time away I’ll do my best to enjoy the seasons in between.
outdorrsguy 