Sam and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Summer

I’ve had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Summer. I’m not sure how to answer when I see people on campus or at work whom I haven’t seen all summer, and they ask about it. “How was your summer? Did you have any great vacation? Go anywhere fun?” In three words: Bad. No. No.

Those of you who know about my summer know about it. It involved all the bad things–illness, hospitalization, death (none of it mine)…and every time we made a plan to do something, it felt like another bad thing happened and got in the way. I’m not going to go into details. They are other peoples’ stories to tell, and reciting the list of bad things isn’t helping me either.

But I can’t stop the end of summer and ask for a do-over. September is almost here whether we like it or not.

I was visiting a friend recently who had also had a bad summer and she said she’s still waiting for the summer holidays.  I get that feeling but I’m also a realist who works at a university. September is unstoppable.

So what’s my strategy for starting the academic year when I feel like I need a holiday and a break from bad things?

First, I’m going to remind myself that summer wasn’t a total wash. We had fun in Nova Scotia with our folding bikes.

Here’s our ride between Lunenburg and Mahone Bay.

And one in Lawrencetown.

We also went camping, twice–once with our friend Susan and once with Sarah’s nephew Joachim.

And I got to ride in the Tour de Guelph, even if I haven’t done much other riding this summer. I liked our week at the family farm in Prince Edward County.

And the bloggers’ backyard BBQ was fun too.

And we had fun at a friend’s cottage for a weekend, swimming in Lake Huron and playing cards.

Second, I’m reminding myself that before all the bad things happened, we had fun in the spring–riding bikes in Point Pelee National Park in April and car camping at the Pinery with Cheddar in May.

Third, I’m also reminding myself that I have some great summer fun in the bank. We have had some very fun summers in recent years. I’ve been to Edinburgh, to Rome, and to Iceland. We’ve sailed boats and ridden bikes lots.

Fourth, I’m also looking forward to some of the travel from this summer that got bumped to next. See you in England in 2027, family and friends!

Fifth, I’m going to keep having fun and even taking some time off, even though it’s fall. Sarah and I have a bunch of weekends away planned, even another canoe camping trip in Algonquin where we’ll see my son Miles who is working at a resort in the park.

Sixth, I’m thinking I might go somewhere warm this winter and ride my bike!

What’s your strategy when summer disappoints? What do you do when the season you rely on for rest and relaxation, fun and adventure just doesn’t pull through? What do you do to cope?