As the last remnants of summer fades away and autumn gracefully appears in all of her magnificent and colorful splendor, the days have been growing shorter, the rhythms of life relaxing into a steady hum of regular schedules and routines. September and October tends to feel like the calm before the rush of holiday obligations and preparations that come right after them. Summer has been a particularly busy time for me this year with vacations, trying new things for the first time, and entertaining myself with Netflix or games that caught my attention based on my mood at any given time. To give summer a proper sendoff, here are just some of what I’ve been busy with in the last few months.
Vacations
Summer is usually the time I plan one big vacation and then remain local for the rest of the season. I’ve been lucky enough to cruise around the Hawaiian islands at the start of summer for the first time ever in my life. Hawaii has been my dream vacation, which didn’t come cheap, and I was more than content with it being the only getaway for the summer. But with a few unused vacation days left and coming up with some extra cash, the family and I took a short and fun trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida for the Labor Day weekend. It wasn’t an intended trip, but we managed to find an affordable deal at the last minute and the desire to make one 10-year-old boy super happy was all the convincing we needed to make this extended weekend in all the Disney parks happen. Overall, it has been a summer of mostly travel.
The Color Run
In between all the vacations, a friend and I trained for two months to prepare for our first 5K Color Run. It’s the first time I’ve ever done a 5K, while my friend had done one once but years ago.
At first it felt a little intimidating to commit to this. I’ve never been much of an athlete, or a track star in high school, but these seemed fun and a great way to test your stamina and endurance. The Color Run is also good for beginners, where finishing time matters little and just having fun is the main goal of the 5K.
When the actual day arrived, September 15, the energy and excitement was palpable at the starting line in Citifield. As soon as my friend and I were off, those months of training really paid off. We jogged at a steady and manageable pace, and there was never really a moment we felt like we needed a break. We kept going until we reached the end. While you’re not given a finishing time, my friend timed us on her stopwatch and we finished the whole circuit in 36 minutes! Our personal best. After doing this run, I’m confident I can tackle more 5Ks in the future. Maybe even upgrade to a 10K but we’ll see.
Streaming and Gaming
June through August has been the perfect time for catching up on TV shows and movies, from watching anime on Crunchyroll to movies on Netflix. I finally watched Big Little Lies on HBO Go, kept watching Steins;Gate 0 as it released new episodes, and checked out three romantic comedies on Netflix—To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, and Set It Up—but deemed To All The Boys to be the ultimate gem of the Netflix pack.
While all those months have been largely a stream and chill type of mood, a byproduct of my break from my monthly video game challenges, I have done a little gaming. Other than my Friday night or weekend ritual of gaming with my friend, I have been playing Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: The Final Season. Ever since the game was announced, I have been eager to play the final chapter that concludes Clementine’s journey that started with a man named Lee. The first episode, “Done Running”, set the stage and tone of what to expect in Telltale’s last installment of the series. It was thrilling, action packed, and full of unexpected surprises that ended in a cliffhanger. After being invested in Lee and then Clementine, which followed Clementine’s growth over much of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, I’m ready to see how this young survivor will go out. Will it be alive and still kicking? Or a heroine’s tragic end to save those she cares about most? With Telltale and The Walking Dead anything can happen, but I hope the conclusion will be as memorable as Lee’s story from the first season.
simpleek 
Nice reflection post. 🙂 There really is something about the start of fall that says “reset,” just like at the start of spring. My summer was both a weird combination of super busy or super relaxing, and it’s great to have a little down time now to take a breather before, as you said, the end-of-year holidays start up. Though it’s kinda crazy to think that we’re only a month away from Halloween already. Time needs to stop flying by so fast!
I couldn’t agree more! It does feel as if everything slows down just a bit by the time September hits, doesn’t it? I think we all need those moments or months when you can catch a breath after probably having a busy summer of doing a lot or nothing at all! I call it the time for recharging those batteries, especially now that we’re easing into those colder months where we’re all going to be hibernating under the covers with a warm drink in hand. I do miss those days too and I’m looking forward to staying in more. 🙂