I’m usually a very optimistic person. I see the positive things in life, and always find the silver lining in any situation.
Except, perhaps, for one day of the year…today, July 15th. Why, you ask? Well, I answer, today is a line in the sand. If you consider summer in the UP to be the months of June, July, and August then today, July 15th, is the midpoint of that season.
Today, summer’s half over.
I may be the only person in the UP masochistic enough to do the math on it, but I think it’s a feeling that a lot of us get this time of the year. For us, summer’s a fleeting concept; it’s here, and then it’s gone.
We spend nine months of the year living through whatever Mother Nature decides to throw at us, and then try to suck the marrow out of the 92 days we’re currently at the midpoint of.
But I think the fleeting nature of summer in the UP is what makes it so special. Take this past Saturday. If it was sunny and 88 every day, it would be no big deal.
But because it’s not, on Saturday there were hundreds of people on each and every UP beach, kayakers and paddle boarders were hitting every lake they could find, and camps in all 15 counties were filled with families taking advantage of a picture perfect UP day.
After today we’re now one small step closer to that long stretch of the year when colors disappear and the sun’s only here for eight or nine hours a day. And that’s why today is the one day of the year when my optimism wanes.
But thankfully, I get over it, because I do realize that with the fleeting nature of our summer we need to enjoy each and every second of it, and not dwell on one particular milestone.
So if form holds, when I wake up tomorrow I’ll be back to my usual optimism, especially about life here in this magical place.
Why? Because starting tomorrow, we still have half of our UP summer yet to enjoy.
I’m Jim Koski, and that’s another slice of “Life in the 906.”
