A Mid-Summer's Night Dream

I don't know the official mid-summer date. I would probably be depressed if I did know. But, from now on, my birthday will be the unofficial mid-point of summer. I don't like summer. I never have. It's hot, and there are bugs, and I don't like summer clothes. There are a few things I like about summer. I like to swim. I like to canoe. I liked Frontier Town. I like fireworks. But I don't like a summer birthday. Nobody is around to come to your party. Autumn clothes (ie: sweaters) are not in the stores yet, so you can't buy one with your birthday money. You can't take brownies to school to celebrate with your class. But, since my birthday is now, unofficially, the turning point of summer, I can finally now see autumn up ahead.

Now, of course, as a child there wasn't much difference between the front half and the back half of summer. I didn't buy my own school supplies, and I don't even remember shopping for school clothes. Perhaps we picked out fabric at some point which Grandmother then made into the school clothes, but that would have taken a day (buying the fabric, I mean, sewing the clothes took longer). However, as an adult, I am evaluating my progress toward a new school year as I anticipate the coming cooler weather. Am I half-way to being ready for the first day of school? Well, I have completed three weeks of Latin studies, and I think I am ready for teaching that. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the coming week I will be attending a classical schooling conference in Lancaster, PA. I know that will inspire me to complete my other preparations. I'll have about three weeks to get my lesson plans --overview for the entire year, and specific for September --ready.

Then, I'll be ready for the things I like about summer. We're taking a few days of family vacation at a cabin in West Virginia. Before that I'll go to New York for my cousins' reunion. There's swimming and canoeing and kayaking--and lots of fun cousins I haven't seen in three years. We'll go to Frontier Town--a ghost town now, but full of fond memories. I don't think there'll be fireworks, but we might be surprised!