For most Americans, Labor Day weekend signifies the ending of summer as children return to school, the days get shorter and cooler, and life seems to return to normal. Many people go on their last vacations for the year, try to suck the last bit of fun out of summer, and BBQ to their hearts content before it gets too cool to sit outside with friends enjoying the warm summer days. Its kind of funny how life for many, revolves around the ever present school year. Summer doesn't technically end till September 21st or sometime around then, yet we may as well consider it over. There will be very few if any beach days left and the school year rhythm will commence once again. For me, summer doesn't end till September 21st as the days are still warm, shorts and t-shirts are the norm, and life ticks on as usual. Yet, as we always do, Labor Day weekend is one of our last camping weekends of the year. This past weekend was no different, albeit we had more people camping than we usual do. My whole family was up "camping" (meaning my wife, son and I camped, and my brother and parents stayed in a hotel). My wife's mom came up and joined us as well, and a couple of friends made the journey with their dog for the weekend. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend with no work to be done except cutting and splitting wood. I left Friday morning with our dogs to get everything set up including trimming the clearing. I left around 10 in the morning and while I cruised through with no traffic, I was amazed at the amount of cars on the road heading north for the long weekend. By the time I got up to Vermont, however, the stream of cars dissipated somewhat and I was left with what seemed like just local traffic. I stopped and got some beer for the weekend and arrived to a campsite that was begging to be cleared and utilized. So I got to work and within a few hours everything was set and ready to go. Then it was time to wait for everyone arrive. I am personally glad I left as early as I did as it took my wife, who left after work around 3, about 4.5 hours to get up to our campsite due to traffic, accidents and slow moving people. But, she got there safely with our son, and that was the most important thing. The next group to arrive was my friend, his girlfriend, and their dog, at about 1030 at night. The three dogs ran around, got to know each other all over again, and began forming their little pack for the weekend. That was it for Friday as the rest of the family was arriving Saturday morning.
Saturday turned out to be a bit rainy with off and on showers, a touch of sun here and there, and yet despite the rain, it was still nice and relaxing. The best part about the rainy day was that we had a pavilion that was completed to keep the rain off our heads. On top of that, it didn't seem overly dark and dreary as the roof is clear, corrugated plastic sheets that allow all the light through, yet no rain. Our son loves camping. While we brought some blocks and other toys up for him to use, he didn't even bother touching them once as he had plenty of big boy toys to mess with. He helped build fires, he tried pushing my big trimmer around almost all day, and when he wasn't involved in any of that, he was exploring the cars and trying to get into them to play. Its pretty safe to say he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He got to stay up later than usual and even then, there was no part of him that wanted to go to bed. The same activities continued all weekend. Simple relaxation. By the time Monday rolled around and it was time to pack up and go home, I don't think anyone wanted to leave. I know that I definitely did not want to go home. I could have stayed up in Vermont for the rest of the week, however, in order to stay there for the week I would need money and without working, I don't have money. So, life must return to normal. I must go back to work, slog it out for the rest of this short week, and enjoy this coming weekend when it gets here. Whenever a vacation ends, whether it be a long weekend or a whole week, there is always a period of depression that sets in. My dogs sensed it yesterday morning when everything started getting packed up. In fact, I had a very hard time getting my younger dog Aspen out of the shed and into the van to go home. As soon as we started driving, the dogs laid down and slept the whole way. I sank into my little depression almost immediately and didn't come out of it till I was almost home. Today, I am good, still longing for Vermont, but accepting of the fact that I will have to wait till October to return there. Normally, I would go up on Columbus day weekend, however, as it is our son's birthday that weekend, I will probably wait till the weekend after, who knows. For now, time to get my day started and crackin, shuffle my wife and son off to school and daycare, and re-pack my van for work. Thank God for coffee!
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