Summer is over, for all intents and purposes. We stand at the threshold of a new season, anticipating all it has to offer: Cool mornings, crisp apples, colorful mums, early sunsets. Like it or not, life is a continuous cycle. The change of seasons is something we can rely on, although each one is a little different than the previous year, especially in New England. We’re never sure just what we’re going to get, no matter how many years we’ve lived through it.

My blogs have become less frequent while I’ve been dealing with life in the real world. Transition from summer to Fall is never easy for me. As much as I love Autumn and the coming holidays, letting go of summer does not come easy. I rail against the farmers who have pumpkins at the roadside stands that I pass on my way home from the ocean, my skin still salty, toes still sandy.

Life is always changing. Sometimes, the shift is subtle, so that we hardly notice until, one day, we look up and things are not the same. Other times, the bottom falls out and we land on our bums (hopefully). We take our time finding our legs again and courageously rewrite our story. 

Life holds many lessons and I am a good student – an eager learner. I am taking notes and this blog’s pace will return soon enough. There is so much to share as we travel our journeys together. 

Change is hard. We often make it more difficult by digging our heels in and holding on to the way things were. Long after I am wearing a sweater in the evenings, my beach bag remains in my closet, at the ready. I hope for that one last summer’s day. By the time I accept that it’s over, I’ve missed the opportunity to embrace Fall. 

My goal this September is to move forward, to accept that things change. Robert Frost said “The best way out is always through.” Instead of standing at the edge of the forest or wandering hopelessly in the middle, we should hold our heads up and forge a path – straight through the middle, until we emerge on the other side. 

I’m taking along some of my projects and goals – getting my manuscript published, for example. And my music, because it is also my sanity in those moments when I feel things starting to unravel. But I’m traveling lighter, so other dreams will need to be shelved, for now – But not forgotten. I will eventually return to them with sharper focus and renewed energy.

Some say it’s about letting go and I guess that’s true. It requires looking back, though, and I prefer to look ahead and press forward. There is one more beach day planned, etched on my calendar, if only Mother Nature cooperates. Then, I will put away my favorite towel, my sunscreen, my flip flops. I’m closing the door on that chapter, taking a deep breath and bravely opening the door to the next. 

Who knows? You might even find a pumpkin on my front steps.