Good-bye summer

We finally put the hammock away and brought up the winter clothes so I guess it's official, summer is over. I know, I know, it's December and snowing. It's just that this summer was so very good, I really had a hard time letting go. All through our unusually warm autumn I managed to remain in a state of denial about the fact that it was going to actually get cold here (soon) for, oh, six months or so. So what made this summer so fantastically good that I wore cropped pants well into October?

I got married, which in addition to our wedding day, ended up being a five-day long festival in our backyard. Family and friends arrived by plane and by car and sooner or later everyone turned up for a cocktail or two and something to eat. By the end of it we were exhausted, but it really was the best week ever. Then we went to Bosnia to visit my new in-laws and we had another marriage-related party at my favorite spot in Sarajevo. Amazingly good food, music and dancing. So much fun. Upon our return (no time for an actual honeymoon) we declared a summer of long weekends just for us. We discovered beaches we didn't know about, we took day trips, we ate a lot of lobster and we felt no guilt for frequently doing absolutely nothing. Labor Day weekend we capped it off with a mini-vacation to Cape Elizabeth, Maine and discovered a little beach hotel to which we hope to make many return visits in the years to come. Yes, this summer was exceptionally good. Can't wait to see what winter will hold for us.