The Longest Shadows

So where did the summer go?  On Friday night we celebrated the end of the Friday Night Racing at EYC.  Otherwise known as Beer Cans.  We took second place in the second series so we did get a "trophy"--etched pint glass--fitting, since it was the beer can series.  Anyway, the awards were distributed during a massive thunderstorm--a bunch of sailors stuck under a party tent in the middle of a torrential downpour--at one point I decided that standing under this questionably stable tent was not something I wanted to do--Xing Fu having already decided that being inside the EYC clubhouse was far favorable to being outside with a bunch of soggy sailors.  I ran out from under the tent & into the club, about 10 yards at best, & I was soaked through.  So much for staying dry....

But really what this post is about is that with the close of the Beer Can series so draws to an end--summer.  Sigh....it zoomed, zipped, zapped & is on its way out...the shadows are longer & the days are shorter & no longer does 8:00 PM still mean sitting on the back deck of the clubhouse for dinner watching the sun begin to set in Annapolis.  Which sucks...yeah, we have some big regattas in September, & yes I can sail in the Wednesday Night series on the West River a lot longer than the AYC series, but work starts on Monday & the kids go back to school on the 29th.  Even if my son doesn't officially start until September 7th--those private schools still understand the importance of a long summer...

And so we begin to shed our summer skins....

Summer Skin

Squeaking swings and tall grass
The longest shadows ever cast
The water's warm and children swim
And we frolicked about in our summer skin

I don't recall a single care
Just greenery and humid air
Then Labor Day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin

On the night you left, I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats were so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn't win
Because the season's change was a conduit
And we'd left our love in our summer skin 

--Death Cab For Cutie