END OF SUMMER?

END OF SUMMER?  A few years back, a number of priests gathered for an Advent day of prayer.  During lunch, the conversation turned to the long nights of winter.  One of the priests commented that the saddest day of the year for him was not December 21, the shortest day of the year, but June 23.  We asked, “Why” and he replied that the days began to get shorter from that day on and he thought that was sad.  We thought that he was nuts and all of us would trade December 21 for June 23 any day.

That being said, the days are getting shorter.  Last month it stayed light outside until 10:00 pm.  Now darkness begins at 9:00 am.  Last Sunday I awoke at 6:00 am. to make my holy hour and had to turn on a lamp for the first time since early June.

I came back from vacation last Saturday and there is a feeling that summer is over.  Fall sports practices begin next week.  Most of the school renovations are over and teachers and students will begin wandering the halls soon.  Plans have to be made for autumn.  Believe it or not, we have to order our snow melt in August.

Back in the winter, although it was a rather mild one, we all made plans for the summer.  We pictured times by the pool or on the boat or on vacation.  In our winter dreams, those times seemed to go on forever.  In reality, they were fleeting.

There is still time for more summer fun.  It will be warm throughout August and September.  But the days will still be getting shorter.  The sunlight will take on a different color.  Football will fill our Saturdays and the lakes will be a lot more quiet.

According to my priest friend, it is all downhill from now until December 21.  There is probably some sort of deep meaning in all of this but I think I will go outside and soak up some sun.