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There is Still Time for Some Summer Fun

August 1st, 2023 by Kenneth Abrahams

August, for many, can be a time of melancholy. The days are starting to get shorter, and the nights are getting colder. Ads are popping up on radio and television advertising back to school specials. Summer is starting to slip away and so are those summer plans and to-do lists that you mapped out months ago. Here it is August, and the list is far from complete, for some it may not have been started.

The things on my list that I have not yet accomplished is short but ambitious; learn how to use the telescope that has been sitting in a storage room for the better part of 25 years and begin to learn Portuguese. For those wondering about the Portuguese piece, the area of Massachusetts I live in has a very high Brazilian population and I shop at a Brazilian meat market where I am usually the only person that doesn’t speak Portuguese. They are always very nice to me but sometimes communication is a bit difficult between myself and the staff. I thought it would be a good idea to, at the very least, try to communicate with them in their language. Plus, I am always up for learning new things. For years, I have loved looking at the sky, planets, stars, and the moon. For my birthday, years ago, my family got me a telescope. I got as far as setting up the sites on it but not much more. Back into its case it went. Periodically, we would move it to a different storage location, but it has rarely seen the light of day or a beautiful cloudless sky.

Summer may be on the way out, but I am undaunted in my resolve. At the very least I can start the language lessons and spend a few nights learning how to use the telescope. My point being it is not too late. What was on your summer list? Was it to go to a local attraction that you have never seen? Perhaps there is some local restaurant that you have always wanted to try. For some, I am sure, it was to take time off or take weight off. There is still plenty of time.

Watching the days fly by can get overwhelming and some may even feel defeated. Fear not, I have a few suggestions for you. Start a new list and make it reasonable. Look at the time that you have left and decide which items are most important, the ones you really want to do before the calendar rolls to October. Anything that involves warm days or things in or on the water should be bumped to the top of the list. If a restaurant that you have been dying to try is seasonal and closes on, or shortly after, Labor Day put that on the short list as well. Other items can be pushed forward to later in the fall or saved for next summer. Set aside time to work on the list. Don’t leave it to chance, grab your calendar and attach dates to each item. Create a plan and see it through.

Perhaps it is that I am getting older and have many more summers behind me than in front of me, that I try to do different things every summer. This summer’s goals that I have accomplished were to attend a WooSox game. We made it to two games. To finish 5 books: currently I’m at 10 and climbing. To learn a bit more about Artificial Intelligence: I got a checkmark next to that but it still both scares and confuses me. So, I know that I can get to those other things on the list.

Summer is just three short months, and we put way too much pressure on ourselves to get it all done. Relax and enjoy the hot days and warm nights that we have left. Slow down and savor this time of year. It is not always about what you do and what you accomplish, it is sometimes just about being present and enjoying the moment. Enjoy the rest of your summer and the fall too.

About the author

Ken Abrahams has lived in Massachusetts for almost 50 years. He still doesn’t understand the fascination with the Cape, especially after sitting in crazy traffic on a recent weekend. Give me Wolfeboro, New Hampshire any day.

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