Summer has settled in. There is a period between July Fourth and Labor Day when summer activities and traditions take over in the race toward school openings, vacations ending, and a subtle change in lifestyles that goes from picnic time to harvest time. We change our kinds of carefree summer clothing to more substantial garb, our picnic foods to the last of the season’s hearty barbecues, and our weather takes us form stormy, hazy skies to bright blue and white clouded skies, not far ahead.

There are things about summer we don’t too much appreciate: millions of blades of grass to be dealt with; yellowjackets and mosquitoes and more recently ticks to worry about. Postcards arrive with scenes of ski trails and snow on a 97-degree day. Supermarkets offer air conditioning high enough to resemble Alaska and then we step outside into African heat.

There are compensations in the summertime, too. We burn picnic paper plates and housework dwindles to a minimum. What tastes better than pork chops cooked on the grill, fresh berries scattered over ice cream, marshmallows cooked over the fading camp fire, a visit to an outdoor restaurant to enjoy fresh seafood while watching the waves lap the beach nearby?

Although winter vacations are becoming more common, summer is till the biggest time for family excursions, visits, and “get away” activities. Whether swimming and soaking up sun at a beachside cottage or exploring a brook on a cool mountainside, there is a lethargic mood of contentment that accompanies those days. Routines are different; pressures are lessened; and the usual expectations of life go away for awhile.

Preparations for the big once-a-year vacation are planned ahead – stop the paper, stop the mail, get all the clothing ready and packed, have the car serviced, and give the family dog a last-minute bath. There are many other small details to attend to, but finally you put it all behind you and, bolstered by a large amount of anticipation, away you go!

Going away has its arrangements to be made, but coming home has as many demands to be met. First, restock the refrigerator and then immediately begin to tackle the mountains of laundry. The mail is stacked high, including the usual regular bills that arrive when the pocketbooks are empty. The lawn is a small hayfield and the produce in the garden signals a need to get picking, get canning or freezing, and put garden produce on the table.

The calendar tells you that in about ten or eleven days or less, the children will be back in school. Haircuts must be scheduled. Purchasing school clothes becomes a priority. Meetings suddenly dot the calendar pages and the political campaigns have already began. The pace increases and summer slowly fades away. A big Labor Day weekend,– last-of-season outdoor events, and some family fun will mark the season’s end.

The first nights of homework and earlier darkness and town meetings and after-school practices for the children gradually take over our lives. Once the curtain comes down on summer, it is quite unbelievable that in the stores, Halloween costumes greet shoppers. Before the witches are finished with their pranking, we are greeted with reminders about the not too far away Thanksgiving. Shortly thereafter, we note in the paper, it is maybe “35 days to Christmas.” It doesn’t seem possible, but it happens every year.

Without all the changing backgrounds against which lives are lived, it would be a dull existence. We groan and moan about what is or what isn’t, but we also accept and anticipate and go on to the next season. Those frigid winter days are not that far off.

So, here as we begin August, we still have time for another heatwave or a threat of a hurricane or some other weather event, but that too shall pass and we can enjoy the lovely autumn before we are thrust into the dull days and the cold days.

Last week the quote was by Margaret Mead, from Culture and Contentment.

Who said, “Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes”?