How I Spent My Summer Vacation 2018

Here we are, dear  Reader, poised on the cusp of the precipice of the end of summer. Soon we'll be sliding down that rabbit hole of school and autumn, all the way back to the tea party of routine.  The signs are everywhere: I have seen the sweaty football players walking home after practice, seen the random freshmen walking the vacant halls, talking each to each. I do not think they will talk to me, as Eliot said- I don't teach freshmen. I have heard the rumbling behemoth buses as they practice their appointed rounds. I have felt the chill in the morning, the goldenrod pollen in the back of my nostrils.

The cicadas are dead: long live the crickets. 

In two weeks, I'll be back at school, safely ensconced in grownup clothes and hard shoes, crawling out of bed to coffee, commute, and community. So this is a time of reflection, a time to look back at those past summer breezes and say: this was the summer.

Also, the Water Authority has currently shut off my water to repair a water main so I have ample time for reflection while I wait to take a shower. 

What I  Read:  Wodehouse. Kerouac. Discovering David Foster Wallace, who broke my heart by being so brilliant, so deep, so ~there~ and knowing that now, he is a finite jest. Reading Vivian Swift on the front porch with a glass of iced something as the sun set and the cicadas whined. Starting and stopping so many works of fiction: just tell the story already! Do something! I stood over the kitchen table and waved my tiny fist at books. Then, I read copious amounts of Poetry: William Carlos Williams; Louise Gluck; e.e.cummings; and as always, Shakespeare. 

What I Watched:  RBG, which I loved. Sorry to Bother You which I got. Blackk Klansman, which  inspired. Mamma Mia 2: to which I sang in the theatre- sorry to the other eight patrons. Mostly I watched trees swaying in the breeze, or water lapping at the shore, or birds flying. I watched the scenery pass by. I watched people. I learned to like them again. 

How I Occupied my Leisure: I had a neglected garden. The roses bloomed early and fizzled out. The daisies followed suit. The morning glories overslept. I worked on my old house and still have not sold it. I tried as many new things as I could: open water swimming classes; running (!); biking; vegan eating. I made new friends. I found out I like being with grownups and doing grownup things. I hiked the trails of several parks. I went kayaking. I found solace in nature.

Where I Went: No funerals this year, no hospitals either. The Adirondacks, twice. Vermont, where I wanted to stay forever. A few foreign towns for lunch. I locked myself out of my car, so like a tetanus shot, I can forget about that for another 5-7 years. I spent time with my parents and realized how fortunate I am they are both still here, despite their penchant for driving me insane. Ex: Dad: You do know that new schedule of yours doesn't start till next year?

So overall, I would give this summer a grade of 92. There are about four things I would still like to do before I start school, but being superstitious, I'm not going to jinx it by telling you. And some of them are for extra credit.
                               

Here is a poem for the last days of August. It's a strange poem for a strange time.


A MAN SAW A BALL OF GOLD
Ron Padgett

A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;
He climbed for it,
And eventually he achieved it--
It was gold.

Now this is the strange part:
When the man went to the earth
And looked again,
Lo, there was the ball of gold.
Now this is the strange part:
It was a ball of gold.
Ay, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.