A memorable time

And so, it's been a summer.

This may seem slightly premature, seeing as the actual season doesn't end for another month, but it definitely feels like the end of summer. The weather's changing, I start school again next week (! in America!), and there's already a tree in our backyard whose leaves are beginning to change. I warned it to stop, but it paid no attention. Mark my words, that tree will rue the day it was planted.

Brandon (remember him?) is ready for it to be fall, but I'd like about two weeks more of flat-out summer. It was a long summer for me (I got back from Germany in late April), but I spent a lot of the glorious weather working in an office (there may or may not have been a gleeful "I'm free" dance when I was done). I'd like about two more weeks of heat so I can get in the pool, sunbathe, and wear tank tops to my heart's content. After two weeks, we can commence with the fall feeling. Please and thank you.

That said, it's been a memorable time. It was the summer where "yolo" made almost anything acceptable. It was the summer that I started driving with the windows down. It was the summer that even if you had just met someone, it became perfectly acceptable to hand them your number and ask them to call you, maybe. It was the summer that I truly appreciated Americana, in all its ups and downs and slightly hicky glory, after a year away from it. It was the summer that I got my first-ever real job, and the summer that I really started writing, and the summer I turned 21.

Most of all, it was the summer that I realized how much I've changed. A lot has happened--some good, some bad, and maybe someday you'll know it all. I hope so; it's a great story. All you need to know for now is, I'm proud of the way I handled it all. I would have done things a lot differently a year ago.

I'm happy that I'm settling into my 20s so nicely. It's a place I'm starting to be really comfortable at, and I feel like I could have been here for several years by now. I'm looking forward to it. And there are so many things to look forward to this fall! I was worried that after I returned from Europe, everything would seem dull and bleak. But I'm excited for everything new under the sun. I started packing for school yesterday; it's the first time ever that I've wanted to do it that early. But I'm ready to go back. I like things somewhat settled.

 But, if you have some time before your summer ends, listen to Mumford and Sons. Brandon burned me Sigh No More last night, and I listened to the whole thing in the car this morning. I never realized how perfect it is for the end of the season, especially if you're in a conflicted, slightly melancholy mood. It's so full of defiance and hope and wistfulness; it's great for that unsure between-seasons feeling.

Oh, and go see The Dark Knight Rises, if you haven't already. Call me crazy, but I liked it even better than the second one. Slightly predictable, but it makes up for it with how astoundingly awesome it is. (Astoundingly. I should rename this blog I Like Adverbs.) Forget Fatih Akin, Christopher Nolan is my new favorite director. Plus, it's one of those movies that is ever so much more epic on the big screen, not in the least because it was filmed partly in IMAX. I've seen it three times now, which is the most I've ever seen anything in theatres, and I still get something new out of it every time I watch.

Or, as an alternative, this also looks excellent.

Whatever you do, and even if you didn't take a vacation, get the most out of your last days of summer. There's always more to be done, but for now, I'm fixing a glass of Porch Swing and listening to The Cave one more time...or maybe two...