Let's Pedal Slower and Not Be In Such A Rush to End Summer

Remember that old song, Primrose Lane? You know, “Life’s a holiday on Primrose Lane”? Sam and I think life’s even more of a holiday when you take it slowly and don’t rush through it. We bring this up because of a couple of articles in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal. 

In one article titled Whatever Happened to August? David M. Shribman lamented the fact that the school year seems to be starting earlier all the time and now the month of August “is no more special than June . . . We’ve made August a horror of back-to-school and blinding activity, a time when offices are open late and summer camps close early.”

OMG. Shribman is right. Schools in many parts of the country have already started up again and where they haven’t, parents are scrambling to buy supplies for their kids. Our local mall and office supply stores were teeming this week with moms and kids trying to decide on just the right binder or pens to take to school. Many of the shoppers were armed with lists of needed supplies put out by the schools they were to attend. I remember the good old days when you didn’t have to shop for supplies, you sat down at your desk the first day of school and your teacher gave you a couple of #2 pencils warning that they had to last you all year, an eraser, some paper and, if you were in elementary school, a box of crayons. Now, the department and office supply stores are pushing parents to buy their kids point-and-shoot cameras, electronic notepads and things like that. Many parents shopping with their kids look pretty frantic scurrying around buying their kids the jeans and t-shirts with just the right sayings.

So, Sam and I were grateful to come across the other article, this one by Jennifer Levitz, titled Life in the Slow Lane: Some Bikers Savor Leisurely Rides in the Saddle. Ms. Levitz reports that bicycle riders who aren’t interested in intense workouts or don’t want to race are now “meandering over to slow-bike clubs that are cropping up around the country.”

That’s for me and Sam baby. Instead of “steady as she goes,” our mantra is “slow as she goes.” I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been out on our bike and some young whippersnapper zips by us. I say fine, that person will just reach perdition a little sooner. We like to (have to) ride slow. We can see more and smell more and hear more.

Today is August 19 and the month is almost over already without us rushing back to school, back to football season and wherever else it is we’re pedaling so furiously on our bicycles to reach. Here in the Northwest we’ve had a couple of months of really fine, sunny, warm weather, but it rained again this week, which to me signals that summer is almost over and the rainy season is about to begin again. I love fall, but I’m tempted to shout up to the Big Guy, “Wait! Could you just wait a little while longer?” Unfortunately I think I hear him saying, “Don’t worry, Be Happy.”

Aw poop!