The End of Summer

I grew up in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which is such an arrogant state that it insists on calling itself a Commonwealth, rather than a state.  There are five Commonwealths, I believe, and if you asked me to name them, I am pretty sure I could, but I will leave that as a little trivia question for you.  Here's a hint, one of them isn't one of the 50 states.  I bring this up for one real reason and one manufactured reason.  The manufactured reason is so I can call Virginia arrogant and subtly mock my home state for being a bunch of jack-asses.  The real reason is that most school systems in Virginia begin the new school year the day after Labor Day, so Labor Day truly is the end of summer.

I read a few years ago that the law stating that public schools will open after Labor Day is called the Kings Dominion Rule.  Kings Dominion is a theme park just north of Richmond that apparently lobbies the state legislature to keep schools closed until Labor Day, so kids can continue to go to the park right up until the last moment.  Even on "school days".  Labor Day is also the traditional closing of the pool day.  I just left my pool, which officially closes for the season in 19 minutes.  By the time I post this, the pool will be closed until late May.  Labor Day may as well be called "Black Monday" in my house.  That is how I felt about it when I was a kid.  End of pool, beginning of school.  Black Monday.

For the past few years, my family has gone on vacation the week before Labor Day weekend.  That really makes Labor Day feel like the end of summer.  The parents are coming off a week of vacation, the kids are coming off summer vacation and the pool is closed.  Here we are.  Black Monday.

Vacation as a parent is an interesting time.  We all agreed that this past week was the best vacation we have had as a family.  We went to Myrtle Beach, which we have done for the past 3-4 years.  This was the first summer two of our boys loved the ocean.  Eldest has always loved the ocean.  The very first day we took him to the ocean, when he was about 17 months old, he was cautious.  The next day, we turned our backs for a few seconds to unfold a couple chairs, and when we looked back he was running, already halfway to the water.  We learned that day not to turn our backs on him.  This year, he liked to go out where the water came up to his shoulders.  Still can't turn our backs on that one.

Middle has always loved the sand, but wanted nothing to do with the ocean.  This year he became a new person.  He loved the ocean and was absolutely crazy.  He ran around in the water; he jumped the waves; he got knocked over and came up laughing.  He even wanted to look for fish and crabs in the water.  I'm not sure what got into him, but it was fun.

Youngest did not like the ocean.  He really didn't like the sand for about half the trip either.  He did like making lobster sand molds.  So he was happy from time to time making an army of lobsters around him.  I can only presume that the army was intended to protect him from the sea.  He did come around a little in the end.  He would let his mother carry him into the water.  I guess that is what we have to call progress.

We also took our children on a time honored family vacation trip - the tourist destination.  We took a day away from the Atlantic and the pools to drive to Charleston and go to Fort Sumter and the USS Yorktown, a World War II air craft carrier.  I remember my parents dragging me to various tourist destinations as a child and almost always being miserable.  My wife has more positive memories of tourist destinations.  Our boys did OK, but I think they probably think we were trying to torture them.  They did enjoy the boat ride to and from Fort Sumter.  I personally loved the day and enjoyed the boat ride, the Fort and the Yorktown.  I think parents take their kids to places the parents want to see and justify it as a learning experience for the kids.  The boys did like the planes on the air craft carrier.  So I got that going for me.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.  Vacation, summer, pool, weekend.  All we have left is Black Monday.  I was just talking to the Wife about how Labor Day really is the worst day of the year.  I know many people start school before Labor Day, so to them, this is a holiday to be enjoyed.  A small break from the beginning of school, but to kids in the Commonwealth (there it is again), Black Monday.

As for me, I found vacation to be relatively relaxing and a complete break from any attempts to exercise.  Vacation can be good or bad for me from the exercise perspective.  If I go with the right attitude and some momentum, I have, in the past, exercised quite frequently.  If I have a bad attitude, it can all fade away faster than an early morning fog.  At this particular resort, the swimming option is tough.  They have a pool that is rectangular in shape and does have lines on the bottom, but there are no lane ropes.  It is attached to other pools where people play.  Those people are usually children between the ages of 8 and 14.  I have swum in this pool before.  Those children pay no attention to what is going on around them and often interrupt my swimming.  I do not like this.  Outwardly, I stay calm.  Inside I imagine new and interesting ways to drown them.  I am good enough and comfortable enough in water to drown them.  I never would, but I imagine it.  This year, I didn't want to imagine drowning random children.  So I took the week off.  I could have run, but I didn't.  I found myself justifying things like walking around an air craft carrier or carrying a three year old up four flights of steps as my exercise.  Then I rewarded myself with a Cherry Coke.  There were lots of rewards.

Back to Black Monday.  I got back in the water today.  I didn't want to.  I planned to just skip it.  But I knew I needed to post, and Black Monday just seemed a little bit more the end of everything if I got one more "free" swim in.  Now I need to come up with something else to do or bite the bullet and start paying for pool time.  We will see what happens.

I hope Black Monday was good to you.  In the next several months we will explore the beginnings of school, fall sports, and more life as a suburban dad.  And continue to see if the Suburban Dad can find the time and motivation to exercise.

Things to Watch For:

Week One of my NFL Picks against the spread.  That means no more 10 day gaps between posts.

Summer Wrap-Up.  I'll get to it.