Saying Goodbye to Summer

If the Friday of Memorial Day weekend is one of my favorite days of the year than the Monday of Labor Day weekend would have to rank as one of my least favorite.

One is all about the beginning of something I have looked forward to for months while the other is about an ending that comes way too quickly.  Sure I know all about “local summer” and how it’s the best time of year to enjoy what makes the Jersey Shore so great. That is if you have the time to take advantage of it.  Frankly I do not so when I walked off the North Avenue beach in Seaside Park on Sunday it just might have been the finale.

I’m not going to put my Tommy Bahama beach chair away in the attic just yet but I have only a small window to get back on the beach before this month comes to an end.  More importantly what I really find depressing is knowing that before the next “beach season” comes I and all of us will have to deal with cold, snow and ice and for as fast as life seems to go the time between now and then just might feel like an eternity.

It’s funny how your viewpoint on things changes so dramatically over the years.  When I was a teenager growing up in Seaside Heights we looked forward to the day after Labor Day because it meant we got our town back.

We used to say you could lie down in the middle of the boulevard for a few minutes without worrying about a car coming in your direction and I guess that is still somewhat true.  However as I get older the 98 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day have become more precious, a period when you can certainly squeeze more out of a 24-hour day then you can in January or February.

The days are now getting shorter and while the weather will remain summer-like the season itself for me and many others is pretty much over.  For those keeping count (and I am), it’s 262 days until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend 2020.