August Days

It was always about this time of the summer when as a kid we used to feel out of sorts. The usual routines around school and friends had been broken, and the new school year was still a month away. We easily lost touch with our friends whenever someone went on vacation. We had no Internet or text messaging capabilities to tie us together like kids do these days. In August there always seemed like there was plenty of time, or too much time, and the days would sometimes drag.

This all wasn't a totally bad thing. The lack of routine combined with the oppressive heat of August always seemed to prompt one to do some brutal self-reckoning and maybe even take a chance or two like riding our bicycles through a different part of town or playing around with kids we previously had never hung around with. When we were old enough to drive there were trips to the Jersey Shore unaccompanied by adults. These sort of eye-opening activities seemed appropriate in August as we anticipated the coming of Labor Day and the beginning of the new school year.

In late August we always made a trip to MacHughs to buy new clothes for school. There was also a trip to Bill Lyons Shoe Store to buy shoes, and a trip to Perdues or Bernards to buy sneakers. These constants kept us grounded during this period. The malls had arrived and were beginning to grab our shopping attention but there was still enough customers for the local merchants.

The shopping also sparked our thinking once again about our friends from school, who might be our teachers, and who would be in our classes. I suppose we could have found out in advance if our parents had asked, but I doubt this would have alleviated our fear and excitement one iota. There was plenty of time before the natural flow of events would reveal these details. Besides, it was August and we were wearing shorts and often times were barefoot. There were BBQs still to attend, watermelon to eat, and fireflies to catch. All simple pleasures which would help propel us through the August Days of our youth.