The Unofficial Last Saturday of Summer

Saturday of Labor Day weekend. The unofficial last Saturday of summer, whatever the equinox has to say about it.

There’s a bittersweetness to this weekend that I’ve stopped fighting and started appreciating. Yes, the season is ending. Yes, the pools close and the white pants retire and the whole apparatus of summer gets packed away. But endings are what give seasons their shape. A summer that never ended wouldn’t be summer — it would just be weather.

So today, do summer one more time, on purpose. The cookout, the lake, the porch, the ice cream stand, the long evening outside — whatever your summer thing is, give it a proper send-off. Not sadly. Gratefully. The way you’d see off a friend who’s leaving but coming back next year.

Because that’s the thing about summer. It always comes back. This weekend is just the see-you-later.

Endings are what give seasons their shape. Give summer a proper send-off — gratefully, not sadly.

What’s your one last summer thing this weekend?