Summer's End ~ August 20th

We share the days of laughter

We share the nights of sorrow

And in the morning after

We face the bright tomorrow....

We walk the halls of learning
And serve a proud tradition
The flame of truth is burning

To clarify our vision

Look at how the future gleams

Gold against the sky!

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That song by Simon & Garfunkel captures so adequately the feeling I have, looking back at these few months and realizing that summer is coming quickly to an end. Here I am at home again, busy unloading and heaving and hefting and climbing stairs and packing and boxing and sorting and doing massive amounts of laundry. Normally these activities are a desperate attempt at organizing my life before I am thrown into the deep dark bottomless pit that is my academic schedule. This year, it is even more hap-hazard of a messy task, since I am preparing for a full year away from home. Yes indeed. So my room temporarily looks like a war zone, or perhaps, the aftermath of a minor tornado. And the downstairs living room floor is taken up with baskets of unfolded laundry and mole-hills of dirty laundry. As if that weren't bad enough, apparently, not only are you not able to walk through the room, but you aren't allowed to sit down either, because I've used the sofa as a makeshift folding station and the chairs as the designated clean-clothes-piling-spot. Yes, it is a good thing indeed that my sister is still in California, my parents are at work all day, and we don't have any pets. It gives me some factor of safety as far as time is concerned, to get all this stuff cleaned up. Hopefully my bed will be clear enough to sleep on.....

And in the midst of all this rush, I fear I am becoming horribly nostalgic. I spent some time looking through pictures on my computer as I sorted them into files and it made me smile to think of all the memories I have made these past three months. What I thought was going to be the worst & most boring summer grew into the best & one of the most fun summers of my life. Sure, there were low points....like sitting all day in the lab, waiting for water to flow through pure silt (yes, it does take forever....or at least 5 hours).....or getting out of work at 8:30 PM, having arrived at work at 8:30 AM....But there were half a dozen more of other days that made up for similar such incidences. And thus they make me look back with fondess and happiness at the summer.

Ahhh......Mmm & now for some iced tea and a peanut butter sandwhich, to procastinate further on attending to the few boxes that are left still in my car trunk......

~E.