The Boys of Summer Are Gone

This week, we've done a lot of swimming.  The school children have gone to back to school, and so the pools are empty and beckoning, since the weather is still sultry and summery.  We wanted to take advantage of them while we could, since many will close after this Labor Day weekend.

I've also started getting emails again from all the places that have been full with summer camps and summer programs--museums, community centers, art centers, gyms, etc.--but who are now switching their programming to bring in homeschoolers for all those hours when other children are in school and so their facilities are underutilized.  Homeschoolers tend not to pay top dollar for programs, since many are on tight budgets with only one spouse working, so we are not their target audience during the lucrative summer months when working parents are looking for programs during their children's summer vacations.  But when that dries up, we are the best game in town, and so these institutions start courting us once more.

This has also been a summer of transition--friends moving on as their children get older, family members passing on when their time on this planet is done.  All of this is in the nature of things, but it doesn't make it easy to go through.  And so, all in all, I'm looking forward to getting into the swing of things for fall, which has its own rules, momentum, and need to look forward rather than behind.

One of my absolute favorite songwriters is Don Henley of The Eagles.  I just think so many of his songs are just beautiful and brilliant, and sum up my feelings during certain times of my life better than I could even imagine.  So it just seems perfect that the song that best encapsulates my feelings on this Labor Day weekend of 2011 is his 1984 hit, "The Boys of Summer."  Some say it is a song about the lost promise of the 1960's.  Some say it is about the break up of the Eagles.  Some say it about regrets of lost relationships. And some say it is just about aging in general.  But whichever interpretation you like, most agree that it is about moving on.

In many ways, we've had a great summer, and it is hard to let go of those good times.  In other ways, I'm ready to get re-energized and launch ourselves into our school time routine.  Either way, it's time to say goodbye to the boys--and the girls--of summer.

IF, by some chance, you are not familiar with this classic piece, you can see the original music video here:

Starlight Concert Series: Moment's Notice

As I've said before, I particularly try to take advantage of all the cheap or free art and cultural activities we have in this area during the summer.  Last night we went to a concert of another free outdoors concert series--the Starlight Concerts held in the greens by the herb garden at the Page Walker Building here in Cary.

The Starlight Concerts are a set of eight free concerts that include a diverse set of music.  This year, the concerts will include bluegrass, classical, Middle Eastern, and Latin, among others.  They run from 7:00-9:00 PM, and people are welcome to bring chairs and picnic blankets and food and drink (but not alcohol, unfortunately--it is nice to enjoy some wine as you listen to the music).  And a particularly wonderful feature for us is that it is within walking distance from our house (although I wasn't thinking that was such an asset last night as I was pulling who know how many pounds of chairs and snacks and drinks for about a mile when the weather was still 84 degrees...not all uphill, but there were definitely hills).

But once we got there and settled in within a stone's throw of the performers, that all faded away and we were just glad to be there on a lovely summer's night.

The band was Moment's Notice from Raleigh, which is primarily a jazz band.  They played some jazz classics, like "Autumn Leaves" and "God Bless The Child" and some others that my two brothers who are jazz aficionados would probably recognize, but I didn't.  But they also did at least one blues number, and a latin jazz, and a couple of R&B numbers--Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," which I love, and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?".

Anyway, they were really good.  The crowd had some families, but it was mostly an older audience, and everyone was really appreciating the music.  The evening cooled off, the bugs stayed away, the birds seemed to be dancing in the air as they zipped around above the musicians, and the snacks tasted better accompanied by live music.  Our friend, the Hula Lady (she shows up at these concerts with bunches of huge hula hoops and stands by the side, hula-ing to the music, and eventually drawing over some other concert-goers who give the hulas a try) was gracefully rotating her colorful hulas on the sideline.  And I thought to myself, "This is just so nice.  What could be better than this?"

Almost immediately after I thought that, the band played their version of "It's a Wonderful World."  In that moment in time, I agreed 100%

Everyone was having such a good time that the band kept going past 9:00 (in part because some technical difficulties got they started late).  So the music didn't end until 9:30, which meant that we got to walk home with our tons of junk in the dark.  But it was worth it.  It was almost dark during the final song, but the Hula Lady has hulas that light up, and she created a rainbow to accompany the fireflies flitting across the darkness.

FREE Summer Bowling for Kids

The national AFM bowling chain is offering any child 16 and under two free games of bowling for each week of the summer.  You sign up your child(ren), and each week receive a coupon via email giving your free admission to two games.  However, you still have to either have your own bowling shoes, or rent the ones at the bowling alley (which in our case were about $4.25 for the day).  And, of course, there is always the lure of the snack bar....

But it is a lovely offer for a way to get your children some exercise while avoiding the summer heat.  They also have special activities and competitions and such each week.

To sign up, click here.

Have fun!