As hard as we try to extend it the summer just isn’t endless. The days may be long, but the season isn’t long enough. Going into the final stretch of the summer 2021 season there are a lot of good things we can look back on and a lot of things to look forward to as the waning months of the 2021calendar year approach. This year perhaps provided more anticipation than those previous considering it was to be the summer of re-opening and getting back the lost times from the shutdown of 2020. It was good to get back on a plane and see parts of the country live and in living color than virtually. The summer of 2021 provided many the opportunity to experience new things or enjoy things you haven’t done in a long time. There has been quite a lot this summer, from the blazing heat wave that struck the Southwest in early July to the early hurricane/tropical storm season in the Southeast during the same time. All the anticipation of Memorial Day and the days and weeks that lay ahead, feels like a distance memory. Making the travel plans, organizing a sitter, booking the room, arriving and departing feels like it was just days ago instead of months. That’s why it’s important to enjoy the time we have in the seasons we have it. Not because we know it doesn’t last forever, but because you don’t want to take for granted that something could be there, but absent at the same time.
One of the things that stood out this year was the odd calendar year of sports. Due to how seasons started and stopped in 2020, what would usually be spring sports, bled into summer and you saw the end of the season in playoffs in times where you normally would not. Also on an odd year were the summer Olympic games, which is still currently going as I type this. A lot of people have mixed emotions on how the games went forward, due to the health crisis that is not only exploding in Tokyo, but around the world. I think you can make a pretty convincing case on either side of the issue as to whether they should have proceeded forward or not and what safety measures are in place not only for the athletes, but those residents that will be there after the show is over. Some events had spectators while others didn’t, I think if safety all around is the main consideration perhaps there should have been no spectators across the board, but that didn’t happen. Either way you didn’t have a the fan/spectator element that you had in 2016, but that is something we have all had to adapt to over the last eighteen or so odd months, that we can have something, while its still absent at the same time. Even here in the USA, the summer saw a hybrid or partial opening of ballparks and arenas to a certain extent to watch sports and other performances. Sports and travel should not be the primary thing focused on during these few weeks remaining of the summer season. It is equally important to enjoy quality time with your friends and family, and even yourself. Self-care cannot be underrated especially during this time of the year. Whether it’s a staycation at a hotel or staying home tackling some yard work and enjoying the yard and surroundings after can refresh, recharge, and renew your mind. The power of stillness is quite awesome.
Think of today as your first day of school after the summer break, where your teacher asks all the students to recite one thing they did during their summer vacation? What would you say to the class? Is it that trip to the ballpark to see your favorite team? Trip to the cabin in the woods? The rental at the beach house? It’s those things we looked forward to only sixty some odd days ago, where it seemed as we had sixty months of those times in front of us. So as the days of summer draw to an end, submerge yourself not just in water but that last novel you wanted to finish before the end of the summer. Soak up those last few days or weeks at the beach or lake not to be sad at days gone by, but to get reenergized about what lies ahead. There is still sand in the dial and a lot you can still accomplish, just make sure you take time to enjoy the surrounds as you get things done. Cheers enjoy.
BA
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