Transition

Have I mentioned before that I hate the end of summer? Well I'm going to mention it again. I hate the end of summer. It's only August 24, so we still have a week or so of official summer (which ends on Labor Day) and almost a month of meteorological summer, but we're taking a kid back to college today, and that's the end of summer as far as I'm concerned. 

It's actually warming up again, and we'll have a few days of summer weather now, after a preview of fall that had all the fall lovers in a tizzy of pumpkin spice excitement. They had to know that it wasn't going to last but their time is coming soon enough. We'll all be wearing sweaters and crunching through leaves and buying pails of chrysanthemums for our front porches. But at least we'll have hockey. At least I'm not dreading the election like I was a few months ago. And I like wearing sweaters, NGL. It’s not so bad, I guess. 

*****

We dropped our son off at Marymount yesterday. The car was packed to the rafters and  traffic was kind of dreadful, but the move-in went very well. Five boys are sharing a suite with two double rooms, one single room, two bathrooms, and a living/kitchen area. It’s still very dorm-like, though, with white walls, wood-framed windows, vinyl floors throughout, and heavy, all-but-indestructible wooden furniture. Two of my son’s roommates are swimmers; one is his freshman roommate, with whom he will  share one of the doubles. The other two boys were assigned to the suite at the last minute, and had not arrived when we arrived yesterday. 

After the “how was your summer, so good to see you again” reunion with the other families, we did the things that parents always do when they’re moving kids into a dorm room. We made beds and washed dishes and helped to organize the little cabinets. The boys hung pictures and arranged memorabilia. They put down a big area rug in their living room, and arranged the table and chairs and sectional couch pieces. They set up their TV. They moved things back and forth, trying different arrangements. 

It’s the second year at college for all of them but the first year that they have something close to an apartment, and it was fun watching them arrange and decorate and personalize their space. Each of the boys brought their own things to hang or display, and they’ll each have their own private bed and study and dressing areas. But they also brought dishes and supplies and food to share. They will share a TV and games (board and video). They are already negotiating chore-sharing and neatness standards. Their common area now has a cheerful rug on the floor, throw pillows and blankets on the couch, a dartboard, and strings of festive Christmas lights. It’s a cozy, welcoming place. They made a little home for themselves, and they seemed delighted with it. And I’m delighted for them. 

*****

Today’s the official first day of class for both of my college students and for public school students here in Montgomery County, Maryland. After a few days of fall temperatures last week, the summer heat has returned, reminding all the PSL weirdos that it’s still summer, at least for a little while. I went swimming yesterday in a pool that had chilled down considerably after a few nights of temperatures in the 50s. It was hard getting in but once I was in, it was almost fine as long as I didn’t stop moving for a hot second. It will warm up throughout the week, and it’ll probably be just about perfect for Labor Day Weekend. 

I thought, mistakenly, that summers would feel slower and less rushed now that our kids are grown and we’re no longer all-in swim parents. But this summer flew by. Even our August vacation, just over three weeks ago now, seems like ancient history. The older you get, the faster life goes by, I guess, and nothing faster than my beloved summer. 

During the summer, I get to come home from work and go swimming, and then make dinner and clean up the house and do whatever else I need to do, while the freshness of the water and the coolness of slowly drying wet hair stay with me all evening. I can do this four more times this summer; and assuming no thunderstorm disruptions, I’m going to be swimming after work every night this week. Fall has its own little joys, but I’m going to wring out the last few drops of summer.