Growing up in Massachusetts, Labor Day really did mean the end of summer.  The short fall and the looooong winter comes hard and fast in my home state and it seems the minute you turn the calendar to September you are simultaneously reaching for a sweatshirt to keep the chilly night air away.

In my adopted home state of North Carolina, Labor Day is more of a virtual end to summer.  The humidity might break a little but we continue to enjoy temperatures into the mid-80s for a good while longer. And that’s just fine by me.  Yes I love fall with its pumpkin spice lattes and football as much as the next girl, but truthfully I LOVE summer.  Maybe it’s the fleeting nature of all those short Boston summers that trained me to adore the season so much, I’m really not sure.  And while I know I have a few more weeks of warm weather ahead of me, old habits die hard and I must admit I still find myself feeling like it’s “over” as Labor Day weekend approaches.

So with that, I’m sharing a passage from one of my favorite books, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  An odd choice you might think, given that White Thread is all about weddings and love and happiness.  But amidst this heartbreaking and haunting story, I found a passage about my absolute favorite summer phenomenon – the summer thunderstorm – that so moved me, I ripped the page out of the book right then and there and have carried it around with me since.  Yes, thunderstorms happen all year but never like they do in the summer.  The heavy thickness of the air, the speed with which a perfectly blue sky turns dark and ominous, the rustle of the trees as the wind kicks up and warns you to run for cover.  Except instead of run for cover, I like to settle right in and enjoy what’s coming.  Even as a little girl, I have clear memories of sitting at our screen door as the sky opened up and thunder exploded.  To this day, at the first sign of a storm, I run to our big covered front porch (admittedly now usually with a glass of wine) and take a seat to enjoy Mother Nature’s best show – a summer thunderstorm.

Goodbye summer…I’ll miss you until next year!  Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend everyone!

xoxo