Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs

"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs." The good news is that the Five Man Electrical Band's only hit gave me the idea for today's blog post. The bad news is that I can't get the tune out of my head.

It's been a crazy week here in Virginia. The kids are back in school, the first leaves are changing, the morning air has a fresh briskness. All around us are the signs of fall. But wait a damn minute! It's August! Not even two-thirds of the way through summer.

I've long believed that summer get's the short end of the stick, always cut off by back to school sales and the NFL preseason. Winter, dismal gray winter, get's to run its dreary, sleety course through February and early March, but the magnificence of summer, with beaches, warm water, and major Brad Pitt movies, is nipped in the bud.

I hate, however, to complain without offering a solution. So hedging on the chance that God actually reads this blog, here's what I'm proposing. Summer should start in May, and run straight through to the Autumnal Equinox. No back to school sales until after September 1st, no school until the equinox, except for football players, and schools that have fall soccer. That stuff is okay. I love me some football.

Fall has my permission to start on September 23rd. Fall is a beautiful season, especially in Virginia. Colorful leaves are great, and Halloween is even greater, and Thanksgiving? Chocolate pecan pie with whipped cream is God's gift to desserts.

I'm also okay with a winter on December 22nd or so. Furthermore, I want snow for Christmas. Every Christmas. And I want it to keep snowing right through January. I mean if you are going to do winter don't mess around, throw down a couple of feet of the white stuff and break out the sleighs, all the way through Super Bowl weekend, right up until they blow the final whistle.

And then spring.

I want spring weather five minutes after the Super Bowl ends. The only good thing that happens in February is my daughter's birthday, otherwise February is a wasted month, inserted in the calendar with one purpose... to make us appreciate spring. And okay, I get it, spring is awesome, I can appreciate it without February.

And then back to summer. A summer that this year is cut short by school, does host the NFL preseason, but also includes a beautiful, sunny, eighty-six degree day today. Reminds me of another couple of lines from the Five Man Electrical Band's song.

"So I got me a pen and some paper, and I made up my own little sign. It said, 'Thank you, Lord, for thinking about me. I'm alive, and doing fine.'"

See you tomorrow.