Bittersweet
July 21, 2006 at 9:54 AM
by Ashleigh
When I lived in Africa the school year ended in December and began in January. In the middle of summer, not really on the cusp of two seasons like it does here.
It didn't ever really feel like an end, more like someone pressed pause for a while. Of course, there were new classes and new teachers after the holidays but there wasn't the sense of finality that the summer here seems to evoke.
The end of the school year and the beginning of the summer vacation feels slightly melancholy to me.
I can't shake the thought that the year is already half over; that in two months time we'll be sporting scarves and autumn coats; that the football season will be starting again; that Joe will be in school full time; that I will be a stay-at-home-mom without someone to be mom to for an entire 6 hours a day.
The city we live in already feels semi-vacant. From tomorrow the school will be boarded up, all the window decorations removed and everyone gone.
Six weeks of routine-free existence while the boys grow, and grow and grow.
Then there are the good things to look forward to after autumn: St Maarten, Sinterklaas, my birthday, snow, Christmas, New Year, oliebollen, spring, tulips.
All these things await us. But for now, its summer.