ode to summer's end

sweet sweet summer. thank you for your berries, cherries, and delicious scoops. thank you for hot days, and hotter days, and sunshine that brightens our soul. and makes us rich with vitamin d. thank you for iced tea in a cold glass and babies in adorable swimsuits. and their chubby little wobbly legs. for okra and butter beans. for fireworks. and fireflies. thank you for movies in the park, cotton dresses, and barbecues. for salt-water sandals, everyday. 

thank you for friends, and family, and reunions. for weddings and trips to the beach.

thank you for weekends away with friends on sailboats. and for lazy weekends at home. 

thank you for adam's summer blonde hair and red nose. 

thank you for lots of funny freckles. and for a husband who adores them.

thank you for the watermelon we can eat by the quarter in our driveway on warm evenings. and for cantelope that smells like orange creamsicles.  

thank you for long days that end with colorful skies.

thank you for coming and going and leaving us a little more golden for it.

and, 

at just the right time,

thank you for releasing us into the relief of fall's coolness. and colors.  

thank you summer. until next year.