Is Summer Over Already?

Everyone has their favorite way of marking when seasons change. For example, does summer end on Labor Day? On September 1? On September 21? On Rosh Hashannah? When baseball season ends? When the Red Sox' season ends? When football season begins? When the new TV season begins? Well, if you look around, you may see signs that summer is coming to a close are all around.

One of the biggest is that the gate to the parking lot at the Allston Shaw's on Comm Ave. is now closed and you need to get a ticket before entering. When the college kids leave town, Shaw's opens the gate permanently and laxes the restrictions on parking in the lot. But the gate going down means the students are returning. And sure enough, there were plenty of them all over Shaw's Sunday night. Ugh. It means do your grocery shopping earlier (by all means, before 4pm on Sundays). It means the streets and the T are going to get more crowded. It means ... summer is ending soon.

Another is my annual excursion with Dave and Scott (and their families) to Rye Playland and T.G.I. Friday's. We started doing it back in 1992 before we (and five other friends) left for college, and we've made it a tradition to go sometime in August every year. This past Saturday we rode the Dragon Coaster and all the other rides for the 16th straight year. (Sixteen!) Amazing, I thought, that we've been going there that long and the park is basically exactly the same as it was when we first started going. It means people still enjoy an old-fashioned good time. It means Dave, Scott, and I are all still in touch. And it also means ... summer is ending soon.

And then there's the whole moving thing. My apartment building is emptying out. It's largely because of the excessive increase in rent, and I've heard that come September 1, the place will only be about half full. That's crazy. My across-the-hall neighbor is gone (bummer). My next-door neighbor (the loud one I don't like) is gone (woo hoo!). Who knows who's moving in (or when I'll be moving out as well), but it means the place is going to be quieter for a little while. It means I have a better chance of doing my laundry whenever I want (for at least a couple weeks). It means soon there may be new people moving in — here and in other buildings all across the city. It means ... summer is ending soon.

But living in Boston, I choose to go with the Head of the Charles as my marker for the end of summer. After all, the season starts late so it should end late too, and while the temperatures do get cooler in late September and early October, there's always at least one weekend where we get a last gasp of warm weather. It means there's still plenty to look forward to. It means there's no need to worry. It means ... summer isn't ending just yet.