The story of a boy, who enlisted in the Navy, who became a man, who still retained the emotional maturity of that boy, yet convinced a woman to marry him.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

And Now the End is Near

Sorry, Wawa.
It sucked this year.
That is all.

    The signs are there:  back-to-school sales, high school sports practices, orange-tinged leaves, Hoagiefest’s end, Eagles training camp, lack of interest in the backyard pool, leaves beginning to fill that same pool, college tuition bills, season finales of those dreadful summer TV shows, and frenzied plans to get back to the Shore “one last time.”

"And, when I'm done?
I'm comin' for your eyes, tubby.
Haven't you ever seen Alfred Hitchcock?"
    Quicker than a seagull on a box of fries, summer has flown by.

    It seemed like only yesterday we were bemoaning the fact that, despite a relatively warm winter and tease of a few hot April days, it would never warm up.  Summer clothing mocked us from our closets as we pulled on yet another fleece hoodie throughout a string of wet, dreary days.  We yearned to open our pools, host backyard barbecues, and take in a game at Citizens Bank Park, where professional baseball used to be played.

    Now?  The approach of Labor Day, while certainly an occasion for backyard camaraderie and last chance at the pool, heralds the arrival of cooler days.  Cooler days which ultimately lead to the dread frosts of winter nights.  While I get the thrill of downhill skiing at Camelback-orthopedic concerns notwithstanding-I much prefer tubing down the Delaware River.

    Bottom line, I’m not too happy.

"And it ain't over now!
Well, except me.
I'm dead."
    Luckily, as that great thinker, Bluto Blutarsky from Animal House, said, “Over?  Did you say over?  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”  Okay, that Germans and Pearl Harbor thing doesn’t make any sense.  But, despite the fact that snow blowers will soon be on sale at Home Depot, summer still has a few tricks up her sleeve.

    One such “trick” is the Dublin Firemen’s Carnival in...uh...Dublin.  Pennsylvania.  Try and keep up, huh?

    Held for two weeks each August, this annual (annual meaning “yearly” for those whose high school diplomas are on an Etch-A-Sketch) event provides a wonderful farewell to summer.

    Called the “best carnival in the area” by my son (who’s an engineering student, so he should know), the Dublin Carnival is truly a treat.  It combines the thrill of amusement rides with food that probably wouldn’t hold muster with a nutritionist, games of chance that offer the opportunity of hauling around a pink teddy bear the size of Andy Reid, and local entertainment such as Bill Clinton and his Band (good to see the president is keeping busy).  The very best in good ole fashioned Americana, it’s a bittersweet finish to the summer season.

    So, c’mon Fall (or Autumn, for you high brow types)!  Old Man Winter?  Keep your mittens to yourself.  I still have a few months.  You two don’t scare me.

Dylan Thomas
Author of Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.
And the less popular, But You Go Can Ahead and Lay on a Path and Creep Out Hikers
    For despite the melancholy which threatens to overwhelm me, I will not go gentle into that good night.

    I’m going to the Dublin Carnival.

    Where I hope to keep that funnel cake inside of me when I take a ride on one of those spinny upside-down thingies.    
"If you lean wayyyy out, you can spit on Clinton's head."
           

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