NO WAY!

Yesterday marked the end of meteorological summer. Today is the first day of September . . .

No way! I am in early August, enjoying the lazy, beautiful summer days. There must be some major mistake by the calendar people, who are charged with keeping us all on a tight schedule.

I am not ready for beautiful fall colors on trees, anticipation of beautiful snowfalls, or the end of the gardening season. Please - someone tell me this is a huge ghastly mistake.

Why is it as we grow older, time whizzes by faster and faster. I remember as a child how the last day of the school year meant summer stretched out, almost endless in length. Now if I doze off for a brief nap in the summer sun, some breeze ruffles the calendar pages and suddenly it is autumn. As children we did not have much wisdom to enjoy what we were given. Now that we have gained such wisdom, there is little time to exercise it and reflect on the joys of life. Not even on rainy days.

We need to pass a law extending time for older people. Delicious long days to savor our reflections on the meaning our lives. After all, our peers are dropping like flies and who knows when it will be our time.

Oh, that's right. Washington gridlock means nothing gets passed these days. Maybe it is the result of the average age of our elected officials. Perhaps they do do not realize their time is moving at an ever faster pace.

On second thought, the downside of such legislation would mean longer winters - and after this past long winter (that went on far too long), I think the passage of time is a bit more complicated. Perhaps what we really need are longer summers and shorter winters - and not the kind that occur due to climate change.

So I am going outside and enjoy my early August . . . no leaves fallen that need raking yet.

And don't tell me summer is over!