By: Stephanie Reynolds
I work in tourism (yes, I know you know that by now).
Because our industry plans for future events, we start ordering fireworks in January and Christmas trees in July. In fact, this morning I was reviewing a press release that mentioned changing leaves and cooler evenings, fully aware that we are under a heat advisory for today. And tomorrow. And also the day after that, I think.
I talked with a gentleman who used to work at a shoe shop about how fall shoes were ordered when people were still looking for sandals. I myself have been frustrated by pumpkins scooching beach towels off the shelves in the middle of summer. And ironically, I couldn’t find any red, white, and blue clothing until after Memorial Day! The one time I needed stores to anticipate the season, I couldn’t even find a red shirt!
As I write this, the kids are already getting prepared for back to school. In the blink of an eye our summer was over, gone, done, spent. Oh, not just “summer break” but I mean our concept of summer. As a society, summer is baked in (literally, if you live in Alabama) as the season of rest, of family, of vacations to the beach. It is a time when you tend to work a little less and garden a little more. Even if you have to work every day, the summer life is just outside the glass window of your office, steady as the thermometer in August.
It isn’t just how summer goes so quickly now. It’s every season, every year. I remember being a kid and Christmas was at Christmas, and Thanksgiving was at Thanksgiving, and summer was hot, glorious, and LONG.
I thought about how it might have been back before technology took over, when the day was regulated by the light, and the year by the season. Now, I love my K-dramas and Amazon deliveries, but just imagine how life might look if we didn’t have any visual pressure for the future. Oh sure, we would still need to plan for crops and retirement and such, but what if there wasn’t that visual noise of Today was over yesterday and tomorrow is already here and you are already behind?
I think about how our society and social media, the news and Facebook ads and YouTube, are forcing this “skip over this season of (the year, your life, the planet) and frantically get ready for the next” mentality. “Don’t focus on the blessings of now because soon school, bikini season, whatever is fast approaching and you need to think about it excessively!”
Now, I am a planner girl. I love plans. I love being ready. But there is a difference between devoting a few minutes planning for the future and missing out on today because all the focus is on tomorrow. There is such a tendency to ignore the sun overhead while dreading the moon. Or a tendency to miss the beauty and quiet of the night because one is pining for the dawn.
It’s still summer. I am going to turn off my computer (yes, it’s okay. I have the half-day off) and go on a truck ride with my fabulous husband to get feed for our ducks and turkeys. I am going to sit on an upside-down bucket in my chicken run. I am going to let the sun beat down on my skin, then eat watermelon and blueberries to cool off. Maybe I’ll even convince myself and DH that we need to swing by Kreme Delite.
And then in September, I will flip the switch to fall, regardless of any heat indexes or Christmas decorations. I will start looking up soup recipes and sipping pumpkin spice everything. Autumn will be glorious…in September.
But right now, at this moment, it’s still summer.
By: Stephanie Reynolds, Athens-Limestone Tourism Association
