It's Summer New Year's Eve for me...

I know the calendar doesn't agree, but I don't care. This is it, this is the end of the year for me. Maybe it is because we were raised to follow a school calendar that followed the harvest. Maybe it is because my birthday is in the Fall (next month!). Whatever the reason, the week leading up to back-to-school and Labor Day has always felt like the end of the year and the start of a new year for me. Moving do an area of the country where all outside work must be done by the end of September has only served to reinforce these feelings. It just follows the natural progression of things...fall is our introduction...nothing much seems to be happening, then winter hits. We're buried by snow (or at least grey skies) and still nothing seems to be happening, but then, the greening...the first sprout pokes its head up and you realize so much has been going on below your perception and suddenly, spring grabs hold. Spring and early summer are the crescendo (if the seasons were a symphony). The riot of colors, the fevered activity, the perfect weather to do anything all combine to fill us with movement. Even summer is getting tired...can't you feel it? The crops are harvested, the ground gets a bit burned looking, the kids are tired of the long days, even the air has changed and is giving us hints of the cold weather to come; it feels like everything is winding down.

"Back-to-school" is so filled with anticipation! Remember those days? New clothes, new subjects, new teachers, new friends! It was all so exciting until the end of the first day...how sad was that? It didn't feel so exciting when you discovered the same kids, you're clothes weren't quite right, and the new subjects weren't particularly fascinating...then you began to long for Christmas break!

At our house, the feeling of a new year approaching is palpable. The kids are eager to get back into the swing of things with their schooling, plans for the holidays are already being made, even next summer is already in the works. I'm chomping at the bit to get started...the dog days of summer have done their duty and I'm recharged and ready to go.

So, have an awesome Labor Day weekend and send it off in style, there is still time to plan...why wait until December 31? You know you understand exactly what I'm talking about. Am I really the only one who feels this way? I don't think so.