Summer Goes Out With a Whimper

Even though summer technically ends around September 22, the real end of summer is Labor Day, which is also the last day the outdoor public pools in my town close.  Today was the last day before Labor Day with 90+ degree (Fahrenheit, of course) temperatures, so it would have been a perfect time for me to go to the pool.  I didn't bother.  I didn't feel like it.

Although I like to swim, although I watch competitive swimming whenever it's on TV (in America, that means only when the Olympics are on, at least since ABC's "Wide World of Sports" went off the air), and although my Olympic heartthrob is and always will be Janet Evans (above), who turns 53 today, I just couldn't be bothered to go swimming that often this year.  I think I went only five times with my pool membership, and one time  I was there for only five minutes because the weather had changed and a strong thunderstorm was coming.  

The problem was that I had what is called a "twilight membership," which meant that I was restricted to going only on weekdays after 5:00 P.M.  If it was a day when the hottest period was in early afternoon  or if it was a hot Saturday or Sunday, well, that was too bad.  I got this membership to save money; in fact, I think I may have wasted what I did spend, because I didn't go often enough to make the membership pay for itself.  And as the summer progressed, the days began to get shorter, which meant the pool couldn't be as open in late August as long as it is in late June. And when I did go, it was awkward to change into my swimsuit and back, because while my town's two pools have changing rooms and showers, neither one of them has lockers.  Where am I to put my wallet and my driver's license? 

And then there's cycling.  I still like cycling - I love it, in fact - but as the days got hotter (thank you, Exxon) and my surroundings got too familiar, it got hard to find a decent day or an interesting place to go cycling.  I did cart my bike to Manhattan back in June and rode up and down the island, but that was too expensive due to the fare for the PATH trains and parking my car in a garage.  I don't cart my bicycle to the country any more, because I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint (thanks again, Exxon).   

As for taking day trips . . . well, I've been very busy at home, taking care of my kittens, my four-legged babies.  But I've also had to be mindful of my four-wheeled baby, my VW, which needs a new pair of shoes - i.e., tires.  I have to wait until October when tires go on sale at my dealership.

Oh, well, there's still the fall to look forward to, and this weekend I plan to go to Pennsylvania for a German-car show this coming weekend.  I plan to do something in 2025 that Janet Evans got to do this year - go to Paris.  Possibly next July.  I could end up going there even sooner if a certain real estate developer seizes power in Washington and plans to flee to Canada to avoid swinging from the gallows pole in a North Dakota concentration camp for dissing said real estate developer on my blog fall through.