SAY GOOD-BYE TO JULY

July is the most popular month for taking vacations. Rentals seem to always cost more for that month, and some businesses close entirely so that all the employees are gone at the same time. It is the month for sun tan lotion and bikinis, boating, surfing, and building sand castles. Photographs of these activities fill albums and digital camera memories. Boardwalks and sand are the order of the day. Lots of cotton candy and salt water taffy supplement meals of scallops and crab. Labor Day seems light years away, and the biggest concern is getting a kite to "take off" from the beach at the end of the day.

Then slowly we return to reality as we come home to a house that seems huge compared to the beach cottage or bungalow where we spent our vacation. Unpacking reveals the reminders of sand, shells, mud, or small creatures that have attached themselves to our clothing. Finally there is the mail that has been accumulating at the post office, filled with bills, letters, newspapers, and ads for back to school items. Thinking of going back to school brings groans from the kids, and I remind them that there is still the entire month of August to enjoy. Yet it is not the same; July is summer STARTING, but August is summer ENDING. The garden has been busy while we were away, and dozens of tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini and waiting to be picked. This is now the time for red delicious apples and ripe blackberries. An occasional maple leaf is showing its fall colors, and ominous foreshadowing of things to come.

Surprisingly August has a few more activities of its own. First is a neighborhood luau and pig roast. Everyone is asked to contribute something; the host said he is expecting nearly 200 guests. I'd better bring TWO WATERMELONS! Then a cousin, in his forties, has decided to get married at last. This will be back in New Jersey in one of the towns where I lived long ago, so there will be more memories of past homes. I am really looking forward to seeing that part of my family, though. My uncle and aunt are in their seventies and not entirely well, and I want to see them alive while I can. The past years have been filed with too many family members dying. Even though making a long trip by car is uncomfortable (to say nothing about expensive with gas at $4 a gallon), we will go and share in the festivities, minus the dancing due to this ****** wheelchair. When Labor Day finally comes around in September I will remember what my husband used to call the "picnic" at his uncle's house in New York, where both sides of the family gathered for an all day feast and visit. This custom ended when the uncle's wife died years ago, as have most of the rest of that generation's relatives. Now my husband and I are the grandparents, wishing that our grandchildren could meet the family members who are now gone. Age and distance keep everyone remaining apart; this is especially painful at Christmas when cards that do arrive come back with notes about another person's death. Yet they also come back with news of marriages, new babies, and corrected addresses. The Circle of Life comes around.