Stages of Summer: Part 2

Perhaps through years of conditioning by our elementary and secondary schooling we find ourselves looking towards July and August as the most precious months of the year which of course for Canadians is fairly reasonable considering the low temperatures and wet weather we are prone to on the Coast. The summer hits and then without control they fall into a chaos of evenings on the beach and early golden mornings. Wet bathing suits in stripes or blocks of bright colours hanging on the hooks of the bathroom door and late afternoon running on roads that are dry and dusty from baking in the sun. Sitting outdoors on the ferry at sunset and refusing to go inside until the whole world is shaded in navy and the warm days’ outfit of a jean jacket and dress are too sparse for the cool air of the sea at night. I wore a pair of sweatpants and one of my moms old sweaters last evening while eating dinner, despite the reasonable temperature, taken by a cold from too long spent floating down the river. Accidentally falling asleep in the evening only to lay awake in bed by light of my salt rock lamp that boasts the same shade as the street lights. Thinking in the orange and blue darkness and lulled eventually to sleep by the sounds a house makes when it thinks that no one is listening. Piling as many friends as we can into the car so that we can all sing along to our favourite songs and drive down roads we hardly could tell you the name of but have driven so many times at so many different stages in our lives. There is both freedom unlimited and a fear of the awareness that July is half over and August always seems to unfold far too quickly.