Measuring a summer's day...

And so it ends...the summer, that is. It's amazing how quickly that can happen. It honestly feels like only a week ago I was packing up my bags and hauling my butt across the river. Now, in less than 72 hours, I will be back on the Whyte side of town and getting geared up for one (final!) year of school (in my undergrad at least). Crazy.

Actually, come to think of it, crazy is a pretty good word to describe the last four months. What a summer it has been! As is tradition in my circle of friends, each summer must be dubbed. Many names have been tossed around: The summer of Ruben, the Summer of Zappa, the summer of Karaoke/Name that tune, the summer of Baby Snakes...but for me this summer will always be the summer of 'Yesterdays'.

I have had a lot of run-ins with yesterday over the past four months. It seems like the entire summer has been spent reminiscing about the past, reliving glory days with old friends, re-discovering people I thought I had lost, and getting back in touch with myself. It's so easy sometimes to get lost in the present- you forget about all the people, places and things that created it.

Here's my top ten list of the summer of 2005 (in the order in which they came to my mind- so no particular order at all!)

10- Moving into the 2-900: After a year long absence from Student Politics, I am once again thrust into the mess. In all honesty, it's been great! I love my job. But that first week was enough to make me seriously reconsider my coming-out-of-retirement.

9-Quiet nights with Sarah: All in all, I've had a blast with my roommate. Anyone who knows her adores her- and anyone who doesn't should get to know her ASAP. I think one of my favorite quiet nights was spent watching JFK...I loved watching her get excited about learning about one of the most important aspects of American history.

8-Spending quality laundry time with Antoine and Phil: Sunday nights were, for a while, almost ritualistic. Having my brother back in the city has been unbelievable. I had sorely missed him. And I'm thrilled that he and Phil get along so well. They are two of the most important people in my life and I think are quickly becoming equally important to each other.

7-Drinking Camp: Aside from the broken foot, Drinking Camp was- as always- a hell of a good time. Unfortunately, it was also my only camping trip...which is sad since I love camping so much...It was nice to go back, after a one year absence. And it was great to see friends that I really don't see anywhere often enough.

6-Name that tune/Karaoke with Mike and Ruben: It was awesome to spend time with those two again. I love my political debates with Mike and have learned that we have WAY more in common politically. And I had forgotten how much I missed Ruben last year. I'm glad to have reconnected with him. (BA-BY SNA-A-KES).

5- Beneath Solid Ground: What a great play. It was awesome to see my friends do so well at what they love so much. Absolute and complete respect goes out to Corey, Trent and the rest of those involved in the production. Brilliantly executed.

4- Reconnecting with Victoria and Aaron: Man, I had missed you guys. Here's to friendship surpassing all obstacles.

3- Reconnecting with Aaron: Wow, that kinda blows my mind. It's awesome to hear from him and know that he's doing well.

2- Spending time with Tasha: love you kiddo and hanging out with you rocks my world. Let's do it more this year.

1- Discovering H20: I love that bar. And I love my new apartment. And I'm looking forward to living with Joanne.

There were, of course, some down sides to the summer- but to tell you the truth, I really can't think of any right now- save injuries and working way too hard on the Survey. But even then, in the scheme of things, if that's the worse thing I had to deal with then, all in all, it's been an amazing summer.

I admit, I'm looking forward to September. I love school and I need to feel settled in my life again. But I will think back on this summer very very fondly.

To sum up, lyrics from a song about reminiscing- something I've done an awful lot of lately:

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant- Billy Joel
A bottle of white, a bottle of red
Perhaps a bottle of rose instead
We'll get a table near the street
In our old familiar place
You and I,face to face

A bottle of red, a bottle of white
It all depends upon your appetite
I'll meet you any time you want
In our Italian Restaurant.

Things are okay with me these days
Got a good job, got a good office
Got a new wife, got a new life
And the family's fine
We lost touch long ago
You lost weight I did not know
You could ever look so good after
So much time.

I remember those days hanging out
At the village green
Engineer boots, leather jackets
And tight blue jeans
Drop a dime in the box play the
Song about New Orleans
Cold beer, hot lights
My sweet romantic teenage nights

Brenda and Eddie were the
Popular steadys
And the king and the queen
Of the prom
Riding around with the car top
Down and the radio on.
Nobody looked any finer
Or was more of a hit at the
Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want more
Than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie would
Always know how to survive.

Brenda and Eddy were still going
Steady in the summer of '75
when they decided the marriage would
Be at the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy
"Brenda you know you're much too lazy
Eddie could never afford to live that
Kind of life."
But there we were wavin' Brenda and
Eddie goodbye.

They got an apartment with deep
Pile carpet
And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought
With the bread
They had saved for a couple
Of years
They started to fight when the
Money got tight
And they just didn't count on
The tears.

They lived for a while in a
Very nice style
But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter
Of course
And they parted the closest
Of friends
Then the king and the queen went
Back to the green
But you can never go back
There again.

Brenda and Eddie had had it
Already by the summer of '75
From the high to the low to
The end of the show
For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to
The greasers
The best they could do was
Pick up the pieces
We always knew they would both
Find a way to get by
That's all I heard about
Brenda nd Eddie
Can't tell you more than I
Told you already
And here we are wavin' Brenda
And Eddie goodbye.

A bottle of red, a bottle of white
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight
I'll meet you anytime you want
In our Italian Restaurant.