Ode To Summer (2007)

I love summer, it is probably my favorite season. Spring is nice and uplifting as it marks the end of the cold winter, autumn is always beautiful with all the trees turning colour but it is the transitional period for winter and i do not like winter. Well that is a bit of an over statement, i enjoy winter, i just do not like the bitter cold that so often accompanies winter. Weather up to -15C i can handle, anything colder than that, no dice.

But summer, ah summer, that is a time i revel in. I love the long long summer days of Edmonton, sitting on a patio having a meal with friends drinking a beer, going for pic-nics in a finely manicured garden, going for a long run on the back country roads with the sun beating down on your back, the smell of freshly cut grass.

It is the social aspect i probably enjoy the most, passing those summer days in summer ways with the people you love, there simply is nothing better than.

I will always remember summer BBQ's and pool parties at Grandma's. These family gatherings have become a quintessential part of my childhood, diving off the diving board and slide, scouring the bottom of the deep end for what seemed like hours, contests to see who could swim from one side of the pool to the other in one breath, cooking hamburgers on the BBQ, sitting chatting in the Hot tub and Sauna. Now with cousins and family members moving away and Grandma slowing down, it seems like these family gatherings will become less of the norm and more like special events. These memories have been stored away in the back of my mind, preserved in bottles for another day. To be brought out and savored at the most appropriate time, like a fine wine these memories will only get better, grow more vivid, with age.





This summer was eventful and uneventful at the same time, i've had my share of "ups and downs and all arounds." There are a few memories that stick out for me now even as i type this, that will always remind me of this particular summer. Watching Old Strathcona come to life on Saturday morning in May, as i met a friend for coffee. Daycation. An evening dinner on the porch with my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin Veronica in Washington D.C. Harry Potter!!! Going on an impromptu hike in Montreal with Will, Alex and Mack. Spending more time reconnected with family I had taken for granted in the past. Evenings in St. Albert. Evenings in #207 on Saskatchewan Dr. Finally, remembering, to be a tourist in my own town, not only in the towns of others.

I guess i am being a touch sentimental in my "ode to summer" but seeing as it may be my last in Edmonton for at least a year, i am not only saying good bye to summer but farewell to my life here as well. because honestly, i do not know when i'll be back next.