What an unanticipated collision of events has today fortuitously transpired! In the instant of a breath, the landscape is an inexpressible combination of Nature and providence. We’ve now surpassed the end of August, the last of the much divined summer months. The Labour Day Weekend has begun.
I expected more traffic on the highway early this afternoon when I went for my usual car wash in Stittsville. But the passage was uncommonly tranquil. People have seemingly evacuated to their rural, riparian or other resort. The weather is certainly favourable. Yet it is distinguishable because there is a noticeably warm wind from the southwest. I sensed the balmy air when driving the car with the windows and landau roof open. The south wind is rich and soft. Later, upon my return home, I sat on the balcony and absorbed the long view to the river which was being stirred repeatedly by the gusts of mellow air.
I have happy memories of Labour Day Weekend because when I began practicing law it heralded the only vacation I felt justified taking. While I would like to say I didn’t permit myself the luxury of a vacation for years, I’m guessing it wasn’t long before I acknowledged the psychological necessity of a break.
Labour Day Weekend was for years the mark of change. First it signalled the start of school or university. Then it marked the ritual one-week holiday on Cape Cod. Its penetrating influence has however waned over the years as we modified our annual behaviour in sync with our expeditions to and from the southern United States of America. Because we have diminished the length of our winter sojourn, the relevance of home territory has increased. For the time being we amuse ourselves to consider endless opportunities for travel and adventure. Approaching the harvest season also relaxes the pervasive enthusiasm. The grass needs less cutting. The gardening necessities are dwindling. One begins to contemplate the possibility of final blast of summer heat. The storage of canoes and other watercraft approaches.
The Summer Wind
Songwriters: Johnny Mercer / Henry Mayer / Hans Bradtke
Summer Wind lyrics © The Johnny Mercer Foundation, Edition Primus Rolf Budde
The summer wind, came blowin’ in from across the sea
It lingered there to touch your hair and walk with me
All summer long we sang a song and then we strolled that golden sand
Two sweethearts and the summer wind
Like painted kites, those days and nights, they went flyin’ by
The world was new beneath a blue umbrella sky
Then softer than a piper man one day it called to you
I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind
The autumn wind and the winter winds, they have come and gone
And still the days, those lonely days, they go on and on
And guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end
My fickle friend, the summer wind
The summer wind
Warm summer wind
Mmm, the summer wind