Labor Day

Summer's over; time to put away the seersucker suit, the cream-colored fedora, and the white linen slacks. Time to tuck away the camping gear and picnic flat wear. Time to hang up my red sequined Spedo until next swim season.

Well, OK, there is another 18 days left until the sun's vertical rays cross the Equator toward the Tropic of Capricorn, but by all social convention, the Summer is done.

It was a quickie to be sure. Not a tap-your-foot-in-the-bathroom-stall-type of quickie, but rushed, hurried and abridged to be sure. There were many weekends of experimental smoked lamb, camera safaris with the girl and a prodigious flow of drool from the boy. The dog made a friend or two.

The BBQ contest went as expected. I did not win, but placed near the top. I did, however, sit my ass in a chair on a driveway in the shade, drink ice-cold cheap beer and watch sweet smoke billow from the vents of my smoker for hour upon hour under a pure blue Oregon sky. It was a perfect day.

Next year, I may attempt a brisket. I will have to confer with Carl first. I may also attempt an apricot glazed rotisserie pork roast. We shall see how the coming year develops.

I didn't see nearly enough strippers this Summer. Barely any at all, and I completely missed the outdoor patio pool stage at The Safari Club. Damn!

I think maybe I played disc golf once. If that. Such a waste. Parenting is hard. Saturdays are short.

I drank a lot this Summer, especially with the new job. We pour drinks at 4:45 most days. If you're downtown, stop by for a quick one.

Fall is coming. Yes, it technically will start on September 21. However, around here, Fall really starts when you smell it. And everyone does. One day, probably early in October, we will all get up to go to work. We will walk out to our cars, bikes or buses, and it will hit us: "Hmmm, smells like Fall." Then, it will be Fall.

Until then, we will all just collectively ride out this seasonal limbo, usually called the Indian Summer. It's a nether-season that allows us to catch up on Summer's missed follies and prepare for the chilling realities of the approaching Autumn. It's a time to clean out the gutters, unpack the sweater vest collection, and generally batten down the hatches.

The rain is coming, that is certain, but for now, at least for a few weeks, the sky is still blue.