Last Day of Summer

It’s the last full day of Summer 2018 and the day is trying to cram everything in. It started with a chilly downpour, moved on to sunshine and a high that feels like 38, there’s been a little thunder in the background, right now it’s blowing everyone’s patio umbrellas and trash cans around the neighbourhood with a tornado watch and who knows, it might even get in a flurry or two before it’s done. I get that. The end of summer makes me want to cram all the fun in, too.

It’s been a good summer. For starters, I didn’t wreck an ankle. It seems like a low bar but I haven’t met it the last two summers. I did manage to squeeze in a last minute wasp sting that made my whole arm swell up and turn red like it belonged to an giant sunburned baby.

The weather was perfect - hot, humid and sunny. Everyone moaned and whined about the heat while I basked in the juicy sun and the glow of their sweat. 

My garden squeezed out heaps of delicious eggplants, tomatoes and hot chilis. Well, I assume they were delicious. I didn’t even get one. The squirrels picked everything. If I weren’t a vegetarian it would have been a good year for eggplant stuffed squirrel.

I went camping for a week with both critters. Tofu, the dog, managed to stay out of the magic mushrooms and Miso, the cat, enjoyed her first camping trip. Mostly. There was one tricky morning when I put her in her playpen while I went down the hill with the dog to inspire her to conduct some business. There was a sudden loud crash from the campsite and I thought about the hawk I had seen a few days before. Could a hawk pick up a cat AND a pet playpen and fly away with them? I booked it up there and neither cat nor playpen could be seen. Oh no, I thought, it got her! I scanned the skies for a hawk carrying a large nylon mesh playpen but saw nothing. I searched the campsite and finally, peeking out from under the rear vestibule of the tent I saw a snatch of black nylon. There she was. When I left she must have knocked the hexagonal playpen onto its side and run along it, like a hamster in a wheel, with her food and dishes flying around her until she got across the site and into the vestibule. I thought she might be shaken up but she seemed none the worse for wear, only a little damp from her water dish. She’s a trooper, that cat.

There were drive-ins, movies under the stars, visits with friends and family, dog walks at the pit,  beers on a patio - all the good things of summer. And now’s the time for it, like all good things, to end. With, perhaps, a little snowy tornado? We shall see.

I’ll miss you Summer. See you next year!