Summer Mourning Begins

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8        

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven ...

Although summer officially ended on September 21st and kids have been back at school for nearly one month, summer is now truly over. We all knew this time would come. We could see the signs, Friday high school football resumed, the apple orchards opened, spice and pumpkin seasoning reappeared in the coffee shops and restaurant menus.  However, we ignored the message behind these signs and continued to stash bit of summer away during the weekends by grabbing a frosty treat with family and friends at the Dari Ripple.  The warm summer like weather helped cajole us into believing that we could hold back of piece of summer all year but as Ecclesiastes says "a time to keep and a time to let go".

This past Sunday, September 29th, the Dari Ripple closed its windows for the 2024 season.  Outside the business, a string of mourners formed to pay their respects by savoring a blue moon snowcone or a banana split for one final time. Gone, for now, are the carefree evenings when we sat at the picnic tables and simply talked and laughed.  We disregarded cares for tomorrow and stowed away our cell phones to protect them from the sweet, sticky, streams of melting goodness, and for a few moments at the end of a warm summer carefree day, we became kids again.  

My photo, taken at evening September 29th, is a final nod to all the ice cream stands across the midwest that are closing for the season.