Summer has whooped me.
Last week my son was eating a sprinkle donut at 5pm. As I looked at his face full of frosting I thought, “wow, my parenting has really fallen off a cliff here.”
The kids have been staying up until 8:30 or 9:00 pm. We’ve been eating s’mores and ice cream at night.
It’s anyone’s guess where the kids are going for the day so that I can get work done. Our summer childcare schedule is a hodgepodge of summer camps, grandparent support, babysitters, and vacation time to cover all the gaps.
We camped. We swam our hearts out. We survived primarily on snacks. We visited all the family members, ate all the hot dogs and watermelon, and ran around barefoot all day long.
The kids have had rashes, poison ivy, wild parsnip, and mosquito bites galore. We’ve been lathered in sunscreen and bug spray for months.
As a kid I recall hearing adults talk about how they were ready for school to start. I thought they were nuts! Who could wish away the most magical time of year- SUMMER!??! Didn’t they know the rest of the year was cold and boring because… SCHOOL!? Now I understand what all that was about.
So I’m going to say it. I’m ready for fall. OMG I am so ready for fall. I am tired. I am whooped. Summer has whooped me.
Bring on the pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin spice cookies and pumpkin spice chewing gum and pumpkin spice backpacks and anything else they want to slap pumpkin spice on, I’ll buy it. Bring on the first-day-of school pictures and ripened tomatoes in the garden. Farewell wildflowers, welcome fall colors on the forest floor and pumpkins on my stoop.
Bring on the pale skin and the five extra pounds I’m sure to gain to keep out the cold. I like my pale, cushy body. It matches the cushiness of my couch where I will sit with good books and hot tea basking in the warm glow of a hundred candles.
I am Meg Ryan cradling a pumpkin in an oversized coat in a Nora Ephron film.
Let the cooler weather come and soothe the wildfires that now seem to be a persistent component of summer in the anthropocene. I welcome the cooler weather, a comforting reprieve from the hottest year recorded on planet Earth.
The first time we light our indoor fireplace I will exhale with relief. I know how to do wool socks and Granny sweaters. I know how to do snowshoes and xc skis and sledding and hot cocoa.
I am ready to slow it all down.
Welcome fall.
Retreat with us!
We have four spots remaining at our Art, Movement, Nature retreat at Camp Olson September 15-17. The schedule is a bit intense, read all the options here. Bring your Professor Trelawney/ Frankie Bergstein Vibes.
Our Vitality Retreat at Deep Portage is nearly full, only four spots remain!
A RETREAT WEEKEND IS A NICE TUNE-UP, A WAY TO TAP BACK INTO YOUR TRUEST SELF. WE HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US!
