End of Summer

Today is Labor Day here in the US. A day for sales and bbq's. Growing up in Southern California, it was also the traditional end of the summer tourist season, so it's become synonymous (for me anyway) with the end of summer.

I had to look up what Labor Day actually is, or was when it began. According to Wikipedia it is "a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country." Well, I guess that explains why it no longer really has that feel to it since most workers feel and are treated like little more than slaves. But that's not what I want to talk about today. 

I'm really looking forward to cooler weather. We moved to central Texas from southern California this summer, and I'm tired of being too hot to think. As a child, fall was always my favorite season, even though a southern California fall is not really fall-ish in the sense of any of the decorations or movies. The leaves don't really change color, the days are still clear blue skies, and the clothing is still shorts and t-shirts. But you can go outside without baking alive, and sometimes a sweater in the evening can feel nice. 

Now, however, Labor Day, the end of summer, breaks my emotions. I'm elated about the promise of cooler weather, but heartbroken over another summer that didn't live up to expectations. 

See, living in New Zealand, the winters were gray, wet, and bitterly cold. You looked forward to summer (which wasn't actually hot in the since that it is here), and relished every moment of the warmth because you knew it wouldn't last long. Summer in New Zealand also coincides with Christmas, and the entire country all but shuts down for the month of January. The only option that makes any sense at all is to spend your days at the beach and the evenings bbqing and playing with friends and family. Here, every house is closed up tighter than a.... tight thing, to try to protect from the searing heat. 

So now I'm sad that summers are no longer the fun season they were, and feel a bit of home sickness for New Zealand. I'm relieved to be going into cooler temperatures without the months of dismal gray (I hope, this will be our first winter in Texas). Yet I'm mourning the daily trips to the swimming pool, and hopeful that next year at this time we'll have our own pool. 

It's like a storm of warring emotions in my head right now. 

But, the Smirnoff is calling, and those ribs on the bbq are already smelling divine. I hope everyone is having a fun and safe Labor Day.