As the first week of September greets you with the potential for pumpkin-spiced everything, do not dismiss the past three months as a fever dream. Instead, embrace the memory of extended daylight and choose the tune that really demonstrates how you feel about what you will soon refer to as: last summer. Your songs from previous years have been strong and remind you of how fast the world spins. But time is running out. You have a few more days left before autumn begins to show her face. To lend you a hand, here are a few situations in which you should definitely try to find yourself, and your sunny anthem:
THE ETHEREAL
The sky opens up on these days and nights. Vast corn or strawberry fields work best, or the sandy shores of a lake or ocean; really, any sand will work, sandbox, or sandbar. Lie down as a child might in the snow, face up, perpendicular to the openness above you. Open your mouth and think about screaming but don’t do it because it’s late and people are most likely sleeping and will think there is an emergency or something. Notice the high and floating gobs of gas and feel perfect because the sleepy spectacle is for only you to see. The rhythm of something falling on you and that beat you should know by now.
THE DRUNK
It’s almost required you attend at least one BBQ per week this time of year. The backyard, the park, the lake house. That one BBQ at your co-worker’s was raging. She’s having another one, an End-of-the-Summer-Blowout. Stop by the liquor store and pick up six (twelve!) beers, maybe a pack of smokes. Text someone who is there and ask them if you should pick anything else up like ice or whatever. Once you arrive, say hello to those you know and wonder about those you don’t. People are pretty hammered and the music is getting louder. Drink six beers, all different brands from that lame but generous hippie’s cooler. The fire is hot and a few people are dancing dangerously close, so close they pretend to fall in, like they are losing their minds or something. The songs are mostly pop, which works totally fine and is doing the trick. Leave the BBQ with your other friend from work. Your sweater will smell of fire for days. And that pop tune will get stuck in your head. That just might be the one.