Summer? Really?
Life in the Pedestrian Lane
Virginia Walters
Wow! Can you believe it is Labor Day Weekend? Summer, such as it was, is almost over! Garage sales are winding down (a newcomer to Kenai told me she thought garage sales must be the second favorite pastime in Kenai. She didn’t mention what she thought the first one was). The tourists are heading home and school has started.
Isn’t it funny how we forever measure time by the school year? We wish away a lot of our lives waiting for Friday afternoon. Probably because we spend much of our time tuned in to school: first our own years, then the years our kids are in school, and don’t forget the grandkids (elementary Christmas programs and high school concerts start in just over 90 days.)
Memorial Day marks the end of school (generally) and the beginning of summer when we pull out the lawn mower, fishing gear, four-wheeler, garden tools, mosquito dope and sun block (I always think positive). Then Labor Day signals the start of the school year and we can put all that other stuff away and get out the snow shovel, the snow tires, the snowmachine, the snow boots, the snowsuit ( I said I was optimistic) and get back on track toward “real life,” whatever that is.
It’s been an eventful summer. Earth was missed by a BIG meteorite early in July (I know you stayed up worrying about that one) and then, on July 4, the North Korean long-range missile fizzled after 40 seconds, easing some greater minds than mine (but I have a tendency to worry about mundane things, like did I remember to turn off the oven). Oh! And the President turned 60 on July 6 along with 70 million other baby boomers this year, including Bill Clinton. That should answer any questions you might have. What can you expect from a generation whose main claim to fame is mastering the hula hoop and who, incidentally, grew up believing Have Gun, Will Travel is a lifestyle?
A whole lot of fishing (which might be the first most favorite thing happening in Kenai in the summer) went on during June and July in the Kenai River, but reports indicate that not much catching happened. The sockeyes were a lot like summer and put in a late appearance, but they DID get here (unlike anything remotely resembling a “real” summer’s day). Now the humpys are here with the silvers crowding in fast right behind, or so the fishermen seers say.
I guess the biggest summer events began with “Cars: the Movie” in early June through “Superman Returns” right to “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” then “Monster House,” “Ant Bully” and “Barnyard” (What? No kids in your household?). That kept the adults dragging kids to the theaters so they’d have an excuse to laugh at the on-screen antics without feeling too bad about being there on a weekend afternoon instead of going fishing.
The Alaska Legislature held two special sessions and got a gas and oil tax bill that they hope everyone can live with. Now they can get on with the politics of the job and let us know why we should send them back. They barely took care of most of the usual day-to-day stuff during the regular session; however, they did pass the largest budget in Alaska’s history, taking care of all that excess money clogging up the halls down in Juneau.
And the primary is over. That has set us up for several more delightful weeks of political one-upmanship. Alaskans broke away from “the devil we know” voting attitude and put some new blood into the mix for governor. At least the Guv was gracious and vowed to support Sarah. We’ll see. She may be on her own against Tony.
A few other things happened this summer, too. BP turned off the pipeline in early August then sued itself. The Lower 48 broiled with intense heat for weeks on end, making our days in the 60s look pretty good. The mideast continued their brouhaha one country at a time. One thing about being in the extreme west of the world is that by the time we’ve gotten up, had a cup of coffee and turned on the news, the day is at least half over in the places that think they make the news. What’s there to do but take in a garage sale? Or go fishing? At least it isn’t 103 degrees.
Then it started raining. I guess we’ve forgotten what a Kenai summer is really like because the weather has elicited a lot of “I remember whens.” Our two previous gorgeous summers have spoiled us for the usual rain and overcast we enjoy this time of year. Just remember, this is real life.