As the summer winds to a close once more (the school-centered summer, not the calendar one) it’s funny to think about how the year is such a state-of-mind, depending on your career and your leisure activities.  For instance, I won’t be taking my vacation for another month yet, heading into October, because that was the cheapest time to fly and also because it’s difficult to close the store at ANY time of year, so I just bit the bullet and picked one.

I had a one-day vacay a week back, a full day in Beach Haven at the Jersey shore.  Lovely, slightly overcast, and with plenty of breeze.  I even did something I haven’t done since I was a kid and wave-jumped!  Usually I just bundle myself up in a chair and read for hours —  but actually taking advantage of the ocean was just as much fun as I remember from childhood.  And I’ve got the sunburn to show for it.

There are fewer faces at the store these days, what with folks heading back to jobs and kids heading back to school.  It’s just been me and the Shop Cat, He-Who-Is-Not-Yet-Named (although he will be Sept. 4th!), holding down the fort and dusting off the books (me with a duster, he with his tail).  We’ve got some really great events coming up in September here on the Avenue, though, so that should bring the crowds back:

• September 8th: Penn Avenue Sidewalk Sale, 11am-5pm
• September 15th: West Reading’s 6th Annual Fall Festival on the Avenue, 12pm-9pm
• Wise Owl Local Author Open Mic Night, with special guest author James Rahn, 6pm-8pm (with live celtic harp music from 5pm-6pm!)

So it’s a great start off to a new season as I say goodbye to the unbearable heat and sunny days of summer.