I’ve heard it said that August is like the Sunday of
summer. Sunday is that last day before you go back to the work grind on Monday
or the last day of freedom before school. It’s the end of sleeping in, wearing
pajamas all day, laying in the hammock with a cool drink, sitting in a rocking
chair on the front porch and waving to your neighbors when they walk by, and
the end of spontaneous trips to the beach or the mountains.
Every month has its own particular weather, for August
that means it HOT! It also means hurricanes, forest fires, and draught—or here
where I live, thunder storms on the daily. Still, we love August.
August is when our efforts in the garden pay off. Fruits
and vegetables are ripening faster than we can harvest them. I remember how all
the gardeners at work would bring in their excess fruits and vegetables and we’d
all exchange our abundance for someone else’s who grew something we didn’t
have. By the way, my 3 apples came in on my apple tree, but before they were
fully ripened, the birds and squirrels feasted on them. I’m okay with that
though.
August is the month when we try to get that last
refreshing swim in the pool or take a trip to the beach and swim in the ocean
and eat seafood until we burst. I have a fondness for the Breezeway Seafood
Restaurant at Topsail Beach, but I also love the Calabash at Myrtle Beach. Of
course, the one seafood you can’t eat in August is oysters…you can only eat
them in the months with an “R”, so September will get them back on the menu
(provided you like oysters.) Some of us prefer the cooler climate of the
mountains and the shady trails and waterfalls. Blowing Rock is mostly my autumn
favorite, but it’s great in the heat of summer, too.
What is your favorite thing to do in August? Are you a
beach person, or are the cooler climes in the mountains more your thing? Do you
like to laze around doing nothing or just looking for a place in the shade?
Sarah J. McNeal
Author
of Heartwarming Stories
Fantasy and Dreams
(sarahmcneal.blogspot.com)
