I found this object outside the Festival Theatre today on a dog walk.
Subsequently, I have titled this instagram, "The Leaf of Doom".
Not that I am dramatic or anything.
Summer in Ontario is so funny...and by funny I mean predictable, then unpredictable (Don't correct me on that ... just lay down and go with it), wonderful, heart breakingly short... and exceedingly long (in the middle of a heat wave, people...lay back down)...it is very special for all of us SIX-MONTHS-OF-WINTER folks.
I took this shot back in May...
Yup, back in May, when the sun started to feel warmish, I knew I could count the days till all the dudes in Stratford started to shuck their Black Sabbath t-shirts and show the world their naked, fish belly white chests.
At the beginning of summer we Ontarians, nay... Canadians... are like people who live and work underground...in mines...in a J.R.R Tolkien novel...stepping out into the sun for the first time. There is fear...and then rejoicing...then many a questionable fashion choice is made.
I love summer.
I do.
I have mentioned before how much I love the beach...but man, oh effing man...I love summer...from way back...
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| I loved this bathing suit...so much...the hat? Meh. |
It was the time that we got off school...that my Mom had to take a vacation of of her security guard job to take us somewhere... swimming... buckets of chicken... maybe a cottage visit to the family that would have us... all of us... and possibility.
There was always the possibility that something awesome might happen in the summertime.
A surprise visit...a fair...a road trip...a party...a street happening..ice cream...yes, the ice cream truck with the scary song...
SIDEBAR: My friend was on the phone with me the other day and while we talked she was making cones for her kids...and about 3 minutes after she gave them over...the ice cream truck careened down her street and there were her kids, cones in hand...waving down the truck...but, hell, who knows?
It might have happened...it was SUMMER!
SIDEBAR SIDEBAR: She also told me her kids didn't deserve the cones because they were being...um...um...and I broke in with "Fuck faces? Are they being fuck faces?"
Kids can be fuck faces in summer sometimes.
Summer.
ANYTHING could happen.
And today, I woke feeling blue.
And I could not really justify it.
I knew what it was...but I am on the cusp of my 45th birthday and have not been in school for 25 years (I just fucking passed out)... and I could not let my blueness be because the summer was over, could I?
It always feels like back to work time... well, it is Labour Day after all...a day when everything is closed...the irony is not lost on me.
You see, it is always okay to come up with a "Possibility of Summer Awesomeness" excuse between June and August to not finish or walk away from some project that you would NEVER walk away from in January.
My To-Do List was long this summer...and I took it seriously...but not as seriously as I would in November.
"What? Oh, you wanna go on a road trip to Muskoka for the day to swim and eat french fries and then maybe ride the Seguin...end up at Rombo's for garlic cheese bread? Will we be back by tomorrow?"
FUCK IT.
World peace can wait.
It's summer.
(Anyone who knows what Rombo's is...holla...I loves ya.)
Sigh.
And because George and I were home for the first time in 4 years during this special summer time...I made it my mission to go to the beach as many times as possible...and my dear George took me to the beach every time we could fit it in...we went to Grand Bend and Bayfield 7 times...twice in the last three days.
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| Grand Bend...not drowning...I waving it out! |
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| Sunset at Grand Bend...after dinner at Aunt Gussie's... |
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| Joy - Grand Bend |
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| George driving us home... |
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| Bayfield...we happened on this beach...gorgeous...rocky...stubbed toes...who cares... |
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| Bayfield...shipwreck! |
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| Sun goes down in the Bend |
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| The special day we took the pups for their own beach day. |
And yesterday we took some pals to the beach... and, for the first time in all of our visits, it was suitably overcast... even spitting... but we Canadians sucked it up... ate our bucket of chicken...YUP!!! BUCKET OF CHICKEN...and liked it!
Our one American Friend, John, who was there...who grew up in the south, ALSO sucked it up ...but in true southern style...
Loves.
And as we left...I felt it...my end of summer melancholy... a deep melancholy...and I tried to deny it... but when I woke this morn... and it was overcast and chilly...and then I found the leaf of doom... it was undeniable...and it fair overwhelmed me.
But then, being a lover of the social media...my friend Bonnie said THIS on her feed...
"Even though I am not going back to school tomorrow.. I still get the back to school anxiety, dread feeling every year..."
Yes, I feel THAT!!!
After 45 years...I feel that...the dread... I need to produce... to come up with new and exciting things... wait, to begin anew?
It really our New Year...and thanks for pointing that out Noelle.
So, now, as I wear a full suit of Roots fleece, I have decided to embrace it.
Instead of feeling dread...I am gonna feel challenge... look for excitement... and celebrate the wonderful moments we created this summer.
And we created many...so many...and with that joy I will... begin anew...that is exciting, isn't it?
A whole new year begins today... maybe we will shove in a few more beach days... but it is time to move on and create our next moments of awesomeness.
RIP Summer 2013.
Thanks for the awesome good times.
AND if you like my pictures, and I do like to take a picture and try and turn a witty phrase, follow me on instagram at
@sharronmatthews
See you there!
Enjoy the NEW YEAR!!!
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