A QUICK SUMMER ASSESSMENT

I probably shouldn't say this because I'm cursing myself, but I'm going to say it, anyway: My summer shenanigans have been relatively successful.

I know, I know; there are still a few weeks left for disaster to strike.  However, other than the two nails in my car's rear driver's side tire, life has been good.  I have not stayed sedentary for longer than two and a half days, and even then it is mandatory as I wait to have the car repaired and serviced with its regularly scheduled maintenance.

Don't be jealous.  My adventurous lifestyle is less from wanderlust than it is from avoidance.

You see, I have a list of things to do: clean the basement out, go through years of paperwork, organize all of the family photographs (that I somehow inherited from both grandmothers), do some creative writing, read some books to clear off those overly crowded shelves, clean out the kitchen cabinets for cleansing and purging, go through my clothes for donating, and on and on and on.

About the only thing on this list that I have semi-accomplished is the book reading, but even that has been an epic failure because instead of weaning out the books I already have, I add four more trips to various bookstores and add about a dozen new books.  Oh, and I also discover Kindle (which I have been fighting tooth and nail).  Kindle is great except that I keep reaching down to turn the pages.

This is not to say that summer has itself been an epic failure.  On the contrary!  This summer has been, and continues to be, seriously epic.  After avoiding sharks on the Cape, my daughter co-pilots with me to see a concert (Barenaked Ladies with Hootie and the Blowfish), then I crash her significant other's family's resort vacation up north on the Big Lake.  I survive my first Uber ride (with a driver who can't tell left from right) and am treated to a piano serenade while at dinner (from The Rolling Stones to Dave Brubeck ... kind of like surreal elevator music but in a restaurant).

I do stop this week to do some work for school.  I'm not crazy - I know what I take time to do now will come back to bless me the final week of summer break.  The janitorial staff has already waxed my room and is prepping to wax the long hallway.  I beg and cajole and talk myself past the machines so I can do a quick hit-and-run for important texts that are locked into my classroom closet, and I spend hours in the library semi-working and joking around with my cohort and the summer technology staff.  After two days of school prep, I'm antsy-in-the-pantsy and ready for adventures.

I see more beach time in my future, another trip to Maine, brothers and their families coming to town, and maybe (just maybe) I can squeeze one more crazy, partially-planned trip into the time remaining.  In the meantime, my basement, kitchen, bookshelves, photo albums, and all the rest can just wait.

That's right, chores: Take a chill-pill and get a hold of yourselves.  Don't crowd me, to-do list!  Seriously.  I mean, what do you all think autumn is for?  Other than more madcap adventures, that is.