Approaching the End

Thanks for Coming!, originally uploaded by Shakespeare on the Cape.

Eric here:

It’s still bright and beautiful on Cape Cod. The morning sun was shocking and bright, like it was all summer. But I’m wearing socks, my friends, and a fleece jacket. I’m probably not going to ice my coffee or (sigh) swim in the ponds. I’m hoping to find where they stash firewood here at Edgewood Farms, because last night was too cold for comfort, and we needed a fire going. I’m trying to seek out every needlessly open window.

I’ve always had strong feelings when fall rolls around. When I was much younger, I would get so angry at “Back To School” sales when it was still beautiful outside (“How dare they ruin the heights of August by reminding us that it’s over soon?”). It seemed like childhood summer days when it was ‘bedtime’ and it was still light out. “When it gets dark (or cold), I’ll go to bed (or school). Until then, I wanna keep playing outside!”

Then, in high school, Summer’s fall into Autumn played into my vision of myself as an angst-ridden romantic hero, writing depressing poetry in Spanish class (“Summer is ending, everything’s falling/ The green-blood of leaves is fading away”). A metaphor for coldness in lovers and the death of passion.

Now it’s all more complicated than that, mostly, I think, since I don’t have something as concrete as School to look forward to or to dread or to shape the time. As things get substantially less busy with our productions, I’m struck with how effective the season’s shift is in marking out the time. It’s, very physically, a new time. Summer is over (ending). New adventures await…