Summer’s Curtain Falls and I Make My Fall To-do List

Summer’s lease hath all too short a date. – William Shakespeare

The curtain closes on summer as fall creeps in. Hot weather still prevails, but evenings grow cooler, humidity drops, and darkness arrives before I am ready to move inside. There are too many things I want to do before it is too late seasonally…

I went to the beach when my kids were here. No additional days. My original summer plans involved spending afternoons lounging under my newly purchased CoolCabana, reading and dozing. I looked forward to grilling dinners – burgers (beef for hub, turkey burgers for me) or fresh fish, and skewers loaded with veggies. I envisioned leisurely walks to the ice cream shop. 

I accomplished some of these things, but not often enough.

Life intervened.

There were too many doctor appointments…volunteer undertakings agreed to before realizing the time involved meant time away from favorite summer activities…Classes attended and classes taught…AND I got lazy. I admit it. Heat sapped my motivation and my energy. Staying home, napping on the couch, reading in my shaded backyard, binge-watching shows…

And suddenly summer speeded by. 

At my advanced age I should know that summer does not last forever. I should pack as many desired activities as possible into three short months offering long daylight hours. But I am a procrastinator and a lazy one.

So at the end of August few items are crossed off my summer to-do list. But rather than frustrate myself and dwell on what wasn’t accomplished, I have decided to move ahead and plan for the future. The near future. The next season. Fall, a.k.a. autumn. 

Here is my list of ten things I anticipate accomplishing this fall:

1. De-clutter my clothes closet just enough so that I can put stuff on the floor of the closet and find them when needed.
2. Clean out other closets (any or all closets will do. They all need decluttering.) enough to fill the trunk of my car with giveaway bags. 
3. Deliver the bags to a charity. I WILL NOT drive around with the bags tumbling around my car for days weeks months.
4. Relocate plant containers to the garage. I WILL NOT leave them outside exposed to cold wet weather all winter.
5. Go out to lunch with friends not seen, or rarely seen over the summer, when everyone was busy with family and out-of-town visitors.
6. Clean out the garage (a leftover item from my summer to-do list).
7. Clean out the refrigerator and wash shelves. (I am curious about what leftovers and stale foods reside in the back of my fridge.)
8. Read books on my summer list that remain unread.
9. Return to exercise class. I hate to admit it, but I have not attended a class since before the pandemic.
10. Get outside and walk before it gets too cold. (It was too hot for much of the summer.)

Work on this list begins after the Labor Day weekend.

To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall. – Ann Patchett