See ya Summer!

I no longer care for summer. There I've said it. I've tried but I find that for the last couple of years it has been simply a time of holding my breath and waiting for it to end. When I was a kid it was, of course, a wildly anticipated vacation. A respite from a hot 1960's classroom. A time to spend reading what I wanted instead what I was required to. In the '70s it was bikinis and basking in a mid-western sun slathered in iodine tinted baby oil trying to look as much like Farrah as we could. I love a tan. A real tan. Yes, I am aware of the repercussions... I read...but I still feel a little more alive when my skin has a peachy sort of glow, however, I must now admit that as I get older I have begun to notice that lying just beneath the glow are little brown spots and in certain areas rather large ummm splotch-iness which is really not the least bit attractive.
Never the less I, once again, filled the pool, bought the float and the suntan lotion with built in bronzer and faithfully climbed the ladder to spend an hour circling several days a week. I purchased three cute, summer dresses that were perfect for showing off a summer tan for those wonderful balmy evenings when we would venture into town to sit on a veranda or in a beer garden and sip margaritas or sweet wine. I even bought jewelry to complement each one; pink, yellow and blue baubles. I wore one of them...the pink one...once. We never sat on a veranda or even in a single beer garden this summer. 
As for the pool, there were a couple of days when I actually enjoyed it but, for the most part, it felt like a chore. The heat this summer, at an unbearable 110 for several days turned the pool into a large bath tub thereby offering no relief from July's burning rays. By August 1st I had had enough. I let the air out of the floats and packed the bathing suit and the bronzer away in zip lock baggies. 
The pool sits now, deserted except for the first leaves of fall floating in circles on top of the cool water. I say to myself that I will cover it for now and maybe, just maybe next year I will once again feel the spark of freedom summer once afforded and dive back in...but I know better. If I close my eyes I can still see me in my favorite bikini...white with black polka dots lying on a bath towel in the back yard of a tiny house on Lilac Lane. I can still hear the theme music and watch Farrah glowing and smiling, flipping those beautiful blonde tresses. 
But it is time to say goodbye...goodbye to the bikini, the tan,  Farrah and, lastly, the summer of my life.
Welcome fall...the best is yet to come.