summers end

Even though I work full time and summer is not all that different from any other season here - we still careen about getting out the door most mornings, laundry gets done, kids need new shoes, my desk at work continues to pile high with things that require attention - I still feel sad when it's over. It's almost like somewhere deep in my brain or bones is the memory of what real summer was - floating in a pool for hours :: being barefoot for three months straight :: sleeping late and waking up to an empty house, parents long gone to work :: smelling like coconut oil - and just how much it sucked when it ended and feet needed to be crammed back into shoes and tans faded. We had a nice summer. We spent time in the backyard watering tomatoes and watching over rose bushes. We managed a vacation, got outside and ate lots of popsicles. The Bean learned to really swim and my Baby Buddha has officially turned into a little boy. Almost all traces of baby are long gone. We're lucky that living in San Francisco entitles us to two more months of sunshine. September and October really is summer in this city, but it feels somehow out of whack knowing that friends and family back east are pulling out sweaters and getting ready to crunch through orange leaves. Time to start thinking about Halloween costumes.