Back To School? I Miss Summer Already

Shubham1khatri [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

The kids look so sad. Meanwhile mom is riding up and down the aisles on the back of a shopping cart. This was how one office supply chain painted back to school shopping a few years ago. The children in the commercial looked as if one of their pets had recently died. Meanwhile mom must have just hit the lottery. (Of course, what we don't see is the sticker shock suffered when she reaches the cash register.) Personally I've never experienced the euphoria of back to school shopping. I'm more like the children, morning the end of summer and of the break from having my schedule dictated by the school calendar. As a result, back to school time is not a season I choose to celebrate.

I will especially miss summer 2019. I can't pinpoint why but somehow this summer was different. Somehow I seemed to enjoy the blessings of life more than I have in the past. I was able to enjoy family time more than in the past. I took time to notice the different shades of blue in the morning sky as the days grew longer and then, after June,  started to grow shorter. And, although it seemed like it rained every third day during the first half of the season, there were quite a few dry days when I enjoyed a two wheel commute instead of four. But all of that was there in years past. What was different this year?

Well, though it pains me to admit, this year I am (gulp) a bit older and perhaps a bit wiser. With wisdom comes the realization that some things just aren't that important. And somethings that are important must fall in line behind God, family, health and admiring a blue sky. This summer was different because I was wise enough to be a human being instead of a human doing. Now the goal is to continue living even as homework and PTO/PTA beckon. If you need me I'm the guy on the motorcycle looking up at the sky at a red light while raising my arms towards heaven.