Shakespeare wrote that “summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”
There has always been a truth in that observation and we’re willing to bet that, if you’re like us, it seems as though summer only just arrived. We’re all a bit surprised that it’s now is edging its way out the door to make room for fall.
But what a summer it was.
In Sooke, it was a time of celebration.
It seemed as though every weekend there was some special event, festival or community gathering that competed for our attention. The community came together to listen to music and watch as children splashed, bounced and played.
We went camping and sat around campfires, marveling at the endless stars in the summer skies.
We read books and had cookouts with friends.
We hiked and biked, travelled to visit family and friends and allowed the season to ease spirits that are all too often battered by a busy world.
Summer brought out the best in us.
But leaves will soon begin to turn and their falling will be akin to the summer’s wave goodbye.
With the passing of Labour Day, life will return to normal and there’s something about that fact that puts us in a philosophical mood. We know what’s coming.
The children of Sooke are returning to school, and that augurs the certainty that some issue regarding education will surely arise to cause controversy.
With both a local byelection and a federal election set for the fall, the rhetoric of politicians and political hopefuls will again fill the air.
And district council will be back at it as well where some issue will undoubtedly spark outrage; outrage that in the summer sunshine might not have raised an eyebrow.
Stores will soon be putting up Halloween decorations, and we’ll hear griping that some stores will have Christmas lights up before Halloween actually arrives.
Everything will be more hurried, taken more seriously, and will generally threaten to wash away the gentle glow of summer afternoons with friends.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
As autumn arrives and winter waits in the wings, we think that it would be better if we took the advice of Henry David Thoreau, who wrote that “one must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter”.
Summer is, after all, as much a state of mind as it is a season.
