Augusts are like Sundays. You can appreciate them in all of their glory. That’s one approach and it might seem like the obvious one.
Alternatively, you might get all wound up about the Monday/September that’s ahead, and spend your time thinking about all you didn’t get done—whether that’s writing, household chores, or riding bikes—and fill them with anxiety.
I know which is the better choice. Will I manage it?
It helps me to remember how much fun I had last August.
Here are my August plans.
☀️A weekend with friends on the Bruce Peninsula, camping, potlucking, and riding bikes.
☀️ We’re spending some time at the farm while Sarah’s family is there on holiday. We’ll swim a lot. We’ll also ride bikes again.
☀️We’re also canoe camping with friends for five days near the end of the month.
☀️I’m looking forward to Catherine (Weekends with Womack) visiting. We’ll also swim, and host a bloggers’ BBQ while she’s in town.
☀️And then there’s my birthday and back to school parties on the last weekend of August. Likely there’ll also be a birthday bike ride, 61 km!
Here’s my past August panic post:
But I’m also taking the pressure off August by planning fun things for September.
🍂 September 11-13th we’re riding in the Parkinson’s Spinning Wheels Tour. You can read it about it here. You could also join us. So far we’re just Sarah, David, Rob, Kim, Susan (of course!) and me. It’s London to Stratford on the 11th, Stratford to Guelph on the 12th, and then a big ride into Toronto on the 13th. And you can join us on bikes for as little or as much as you like. You can make donations. Or you can help out with logistics, or even just come out and cheer us on.
🍂 We’re also doing the Rotary Tour de Dundas on September 21st. We opted for the 60 km pastoral ride, mostly because it has the least amount of climbing up the escarpment. I’ll report back! I’m hoping it’s more community riding during my favourite cycling season, and less like a race, but we’ll see.
🍂 There’s another weekend set aside for canoe camping but that might end up being a farm weekend. More fall biking is fine with me!
🍂 Culturally, September is a big month. There’s the Eden Mills Writers’ Festival, the Art Gallery of Guelph fall openings, and Gryphons Read at Guelph. This year’s Gryphons Read book is Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta.
🍂 And then there’s all the back-to-school excitement. Yes, I’m teaching, but also as Dean I attend a lot of back to school events for groups in my College, the College of Arts, and across the university. I love the energy on campus in September and wish I could bottle it for November and March.
