The Summer's Out of Reach

This week marked the official end of summer and start of fall. It's a little bittersweet, which is weird. I'm not one of those summer obsessed people. I like it, but fall is my favorite season by far. So I should be totally excited, right? I am excited, but I'm just realizing how change is such a constant thing. I am the type of person who loves change. Maybe that's one of the reasons I am in love with fall. I love how something in the air changes. The colors of the leaves change. The world turns crunchy beneath my feet. I love it. But lately, I've been more afraid of change than usual. Things are starting to change, and I want to just pretend that I don't realize it's happening. Too bad you can only pretend for so long. . .

One thing I love about summer is jumping into bodies of water. I see a body of water and I'm instantly pulled towards it. I don't really know why I find so much joy in throwing myself into water, but I do. Whether I'm jumping off of rocks, bridges, docks, or out of trees, I like it lots. This week the weather has been very nice and warm, and as fall is coming for a short visit before winter, I realized that there might not be many more warm days left for me. I decided I had to jump into some water, since it might be the last time of the year. I had a break in between my classes, so Brian and I headed to one of my favorite places: First Dam. As I climbed over the dock rail, and stood on the very edge of the wooden boards, a feeling of pure happiness washed over me. I felt like a little kid with a big grin on my face. Brian said he would jump when I did. That was a lie. I jumped and he watched. As my body slid inside the pond water, every bit of me came alive. Basically because the water was ice cold. Talk about a rush. Cold water is a rush. I swam to the top and let out a yelp. Brian jumped before he saw my reaction to the water temperature. Ha ha, sucker. I swam over to him. We were both whimpering from the cold. As we climbed back onto firm ground, I can't even explain how I felt. The water had woken me up. All the way down to my bones.

I feel it was a good way to say so long to summer. And such a good summer it was. I guess I have to learn to say goodbye to some things, no matter how wonderful they are. There comes a time in life that you must go your separate ways. Also, I'm glad I took a plunge into First Dam, even though the water was much colder than expected. I guess I learned that there are times in life that you must plunge into the unknown. I may not feel ready for the plunge. But sitting on the edge of the dock and waiting to be ready is a waste of time. Doing that, I may never be ready. And I might just end up missing out on the best thing that could ever happen to me.