I just got back from my first beach trip of the summer.
And somewhere between sitting on the beach, looking at the ocean and wondering why I don't do this more often, it hit me...
Wait. How is summer almost over when I just got here?
Didn't we just put the patio furniture out?
Wasn't Memorial Day about three Tuesdays ago?
I walked into a store the other day and there they were...
Pumpkins.
It's AUGUST.
Can I please finish summer before you make me feel guilty that I haven't decorated for Halloween?
I'm standing there in flip-flops and shorts looking at ceramic pumpkins, fuzzy blankets and things that smell like cinnamon, and suddenly I feel like I'm behind.
Behind on WHAT?
A SEASON?
Apparently I didn't get the memo that we're done with summer.
Well, I'm not.
I'm not even bored with my summer clothes yet.
I'm still enjoying throwing on a sundress and not having to find two socks that match.
I'm not ready for sweaters.
I'm not ready for pumpkin spice anything.
And I am DEFINITELY not ready to think about Christmas.
Give me a minute.
I haven't even finished complaining about the humidity.
When I was a kid, summer lasted approximately 14 years.
I remember telling my dad, "I'm bored."
He'd say, "Just wait until you get older."
I would roll my eyes and think, What does getting older have to do with me being bored?
I was trying to survive a Tuesday afternoon that had already lasted six days.
I had nowhere to be, nothing to do and an entire summer stretching out in front of me.
And somehow...
I was bored.
Do you know what I would give now to be bored?
I would LOVE to wake up one morning with absolutely nothing to do.
No appointments.
No errands.
No emails.
No laundry sitting in the dryer for three days waiting for someone to fold it.
Just me, sitting there thinking...
"Gee, what should I do today?"
NOTHING.
That's what I'm doing.
Nothing.
And I'm going to be very busy doing it.
Of course, I'd probably make it about eleven minutes before I remembered something I was supposed to do.
But for eleven glorious minutes...
I'd be bored.
Turns out, my dad was right.
The older you get, the faster everything seems to go.
Summer used to last forever.
Now you buy a watermelon and suddenly it's Thanksgiving.
I swear, January was five minutes ago.
We were complaining that it was freezing.
Then we complained about the rain.
Then we couldn't wait for summer.
Summer finally gets here and what do we do?
Start talking about fall.
We haven't even finished our first margarita and somebody's putting a pumpkin on the table.
Then Thanksgiving.
Then Christmas.
Then New Year's.
And suddenly we're standing in CVS in front of a wall of Valentine's candy wondering...
Didn't I just take down the Christmas tree?
Why are we in such a hurry?
We're always waiting for the next thing.
The next season.
The next holiday.
The next weekend.
The next vacation.
And then we get there...
and start waiting for the thing after that.
Maybe that's why everything feels like it's going so damn fast.
Maybe we need to stop rushing.
Take a breath.
Enjoy where we are while we're actually here.
Listen to the ocean.
Mine happens to be saying, “Find a sandBAR.”
Who am I to argue with nature?
Because right now...
It's still summer.
The days are still long.
The tomatoes still taste like tomatoes.
There's still time to sit outside, go to the beach, eat ice cream for dinner and complain that it's too damn hot.
Fall will get here.
The sweaters will come out.
And Christmas will arrive whether any of us are emotionally prepared for it or not.
But for now?
Can we just enjoy summer while it's still summer?
So please...
Put down the pumpkin.
Back away from the Christmas decorations.
And grab your flip-flops.
Seas the moment.
joey ❤️
