I don’t transition well.

Never have.

I was always the kid who cried when it was time to go home. The one who begged for one more minute in the pool or one more TV show before bed.

It’s not that I want more necessarily, it’s just that I’m not quite ready for whatever’s next. A here and now kinda girl, I’m always and forever just settling in to wherever I am.

So summer’s moving on. This fact both leaves me in deep denial and also some small amount of panic.

Because I’m only just now getting into the swim of it.

There are still projects undone, photographs not yet taken, adventures left on the list of places to go and all of a sudden, mums are out at the garden center!

Wait a minute, summer … I’m not ready!

Clearly, I need a plan.

Here’s how I’ll try to transition:

Find your loves. Look for what you love in whatever’s coming next. In fall, I love boots and jeans, wool blankets, football, plaids, pumpkins, cider donuts, and new notebooks. You may remember I have a thing for notebooks.  And, of course, there’s beautiful, New England foliage – summer’s going away party.

Learn something. I’m enrolling in a digital photography course starting in September. It was a summer list to-do, but easily carried over to fall. Hopes and dreams aren’t limited by  the date on the calendar. Check out your local adult education programs. Ours has everything from soap making to conversational Spanish to ballroom dancing.

Make room in the schedule. There’s still time for porch sitting, beach walking, and book reading. Build a fire in the pit out back to remember the weekend you went camping. Collect acorns instead of shells and trade salads for stews. See that’s the thing: there’s room in life to love it all. And live it all.

Spend time outside. There’s wide open  air out there, no matter the season. Sun to feel on your face. There are breezes and the smells carried by them. Say so long to the honking geese headed south and kick through the leaves gathering on the sidewalk. Bundle up and walk down the road through fall afternoons, pinking your cheeks and filling your lungs.

Think ahead. Of course we transition on other days and in other ways. We’re transitioning all the time from one season to the next, and from today to tomorrow. What kind of postcards will you want to send from this next season in your life? Where will you go? What souvenirs will you bring back with you?  Live in this one single day, but remember: Tomorrow’s ready for new memory making. Bring your camera.