August Slipped Away
“August” isn’t my favorite Taylor Swift song, but I’ve always loved this line:
August slipped away like a bottle of wine.
And as I write this in late August, the line feels even more poignant.
I’m relatively outspoken about the fact that I am not a summer person. I’m not really a sun person. I’ll take a cloudy day over a sunny one, a rainy day over a cloudy. I do not like warm weather, and I loathe hot weather.
Still, for the most part, I made it a point this summer to let summer be summer, to find things to enjoy about it. I wrote a whole post about my intent here.
Months later, as summer* comes to a close, I think I did a pretty good job. I’m not going to say that my heart hasn’t lit up the past couple days which have been rainy and in the 60s here in NYC. Or that I didn’t watch this video by my favorite slow living YouTuber and immediately want to bake something with pumpkin (the fact that I like neither baking nor pumpkin says it all).
But mostly I went out of my way to find things to enjoy about summer in the city, and succeeded.
The way the sunlight crept into our bedroom at 5am, and the spectacular sunrises that often followed. The regular visits to our neighborhood bar where everyone knows our name (I know, I know) on a hot sticky day, where it’s almost entirely locals at the bar, sharing the same, “It’s hot as hell, but we’re home” kind of camaraderie.
I discovered my perfect summer top. This tank from LuluLemon which is technically a running top, but add a necklace and a skirt and it’s as “going out” friendly as it is gym-friendly.
(Trust me, the mesh at the top can be either sporty OR fancy…though by “going out” I mostly mean to the local bar mentioned above…)
We have a little cheap bistro-type table in our bedroom with two really uncomfortable chairs. It mostly doubles as a recording studio when one of us needs to be on a call/zoom or video without bothering the other person in the main part of the apartment that serves as living room/office/dining.
But this summer we’ve brought cocktails, a scented candle and conversation to that little table, watching both sunsets and thunderstorms over the Hudson while tackling all those big topics that lurk beneath the surface without us really realizing it until they’re out.
What are we doing with our lives? Are we responsible for other people’s own emotions? Is it selfish to tether our happiness to other people? And is it selfish to choose what brings us peace? Are we supposed to love our work, or are we meant to separate out work from play? Is AI ruining the world, or saving it? Why has life gotten SO much better since we distanced ourselves from the news?
Light, casual stuff like that.
Anth’s little indoor garden is thriving. My art cart has gotten daily use. I love my summer quilt a weird amount. Toast in the morning. Salmon for lunch. Whispering Angel Rosé. Golf is on every weekend, afternoons and evenings spent reading by daylight, no lamps required.
August slipped away like a bottle of wine.
I’m more aware this year that summer is coming to a close, but for once, I’m not trying to hasten it away.
I won’t miss it. But I’m glad it was here.
* My soul lives by meteorological summer, which ends on August 31st, not astronomical summer which ends September 22. September is fall. Facts.
