Inconceivable as it may seem, the Labour Day weekend has arrived.
It seems like only two weeks ago that the calendar showed it mid-June, a full summer ahead to do everything and anything. As is tradition in this office/household, the last day of school is always followed by making a list of all the things we plan to do over the summer break with the six-year-old: pick strawberries, have a picnic, visit a beach-all the classics. Most got checked off, some didn’t, but a whole host of other unexpected adventures ended up happening as well.
Although technically speaking summer will continue on until Sept. 23, for most Canadians the arrival of that first weekend in September signals a transition of summer into fall. Students head back to school and just about any business that enjoys ‘summer hours’ will revert back to their regular schedule. Skipping out of work early on a nice July afternoon just seems easier to justify as opposed to doing so in September.
Between regular rain and a general absence of that traditional stretch of blistering hot days, it almost feels like summer never really fully arrived. Not that we’re complaining-by in large there weren’t too many days where the idea of going outside just seemed unbearable due to stifling heat. As for the rain, there seemed to be just enough of it to keep gardens healthy and grass a nice shade of green without any downpours that lead to flash flooding in some areas. Given all that farmers have to deal with on a yearly basis, not to mention a day-to-day basis, hopefully a less extreme summer gave them one less thing to worry about. From a very small-scale anecdotal perspective, this reporter’s pumpkin patch is lining up to be the best year yet in 10 years of attempts. That’s even with having to restart in late May when the first vines were trampled by baby ducks that were foolishly being kept in the garden.
It wasn’t just the weather that cooperated over the last few months. Overall there was a noticeable shift back to ‘normal’ as we put more distance between us and the pandemic years. Though last summer marked the return of just about every annual event, there was still that bit of trepidation as society dipped its toes back into the water. This year just about all restrictions were lifted and for the most part the dark days of COVID-19 seemed like a distant memory. From the annual Loyalist Landing in Adolphustown, the Napanee Fair and the U20 Canadian Fast Pitch Championship-with a whole host of other events held in between-Summer 2023 felt like in many ways a return to the status quo.
Though with cold and flu season just around the corner, we won’t say that too loudly.
Here’s to making the most of these last few weeks of summer-and perhaps hoping Mother Nature smiles upon us and tacks on a few extra warm days into October. We won’t talk about that season that follows autumn that will be here before we know it.
-Adam Prudhomme