This is August

August 14, 2015

Written by Marykate O’Malley, mother of three wonderful children, Gladwyne PA

We have lost track of the days, and over indulged on fudge and boardwalk fries. Bedtime has crept later every evening because who can go to bed with pink and orange candy clouds painted across the bay, and ice cream lines that snake around corners.

Last week I spotted a cluster of red leaves high towards the tree tops. The air is cooling at night, the light quietly changing and whispering of autumn and sharpened pencils, notebooks, and precision.

For now, I want to drink in August, savor it and pray it lingers. I want to forget I have a life outside this day, this moment. And stay at the beach until dinner. Long after the crowds have thinned and the lifeguards left. When my children can jump off the lifeguard stand, and dance at the water’s edge like sand pipers flirting with the surf. I want to smell the salt air in my children’s tangled hair, find shells hidden in pockets, and rinse sandy legs and toes.

This is August. Wild and free. August of sea grass, and sea glass, of blue clawed crabs, and children biking to the playground, sorbet sunsets, and a glorious double rainbow that traced across the beach one night. Summer’s glorious good-bye inviting us to slow, and savor, and cast all else aside.