labor day weekend

It was 7:58pm and the sun was on its way to the other side of the Earth. I heard the sound of the night critters begin at 8:02 pm. Talk of Bowl games moved from a whisper to loud chatter, the 2013 autos were being introduced and at my favorite farmers market the peach and apricot stands were replaced with apples, pears and other boring fruit of Autumn. Advertisement for the MDS telethon played, minus Jerry Lewis's name, and back to school sales were in full force. No matter what Mother Earth had to say, summer had exited, and fall was standing in front of the line. And before I realized it, Labor Day weekend was here.

As a child, it was a wonderful forever period of time from the last day of school to the last day of summer. Time meandered lazily allowing you to linger playing with the kids on your block until 11:00 at night, no need for the rules and regulations of a school night. Days lasted longer with more adventures to discover and even more secrets to unwrap and eventually share. The time between Memorial Day to the Fourth was filled with picnics, fireworks drive-in movies, scary stories, the biggest thunderstorms ever and all the kids on the block playing outside. The months of July and August took forever to transpire as each day seemed to last at least 14 hours. The days were filled with adventures that only needed a ball or chalk or one other kid to mesmerize and amuse. The nights trumpeted in the tinny sounds of transistor radios showcasing the voices of baseball announcers describing in great detail the details of the game. Lightening bugs erupted from the dark and the ice cream trucks blared their horns followed by the pleas and cries of kids shouting 'Mommy please can I have a quarter.

It is Labor Day weekend, and this year like too many from my recent past it has arrived way too soon and way too fast. What happened to June and July let alone August? I just got used to wearing tank tops and shorts, I don't want to know anything about sweaters and jackets. I want to imagine that Christmas is still 8 months away and that the only shopping I need to do is to buy sun screen. But here it is, Labor Day weekend as if it just happened, well a year ago.

I am lucky, as this year I am spending this end of the summer holiday in a place that has no time limitations. But damn, where did the year go, and why does it seem to travel faster each year I get older.