August Ended

Today we say goodbye to August.
Today we mourn the end of summer.
Today we exit vacation mode.

Where did you go Mrs. Summertime? You loved me so brightly. You hugged me so warmly. You made me oh so hot and sweaty.

Nary a day did you frown on me with storm clouds. Hardly at all did you cry on me with your tears of rain. You were so polite in rarely interrupting my plans. Instead, you rejoiced along with me and made them better.

It was a summer to remember.

You provided us with a national celebration of athletic triumph at the Olympics. You shone on the greatest Canadian Olympian ever, 16-year-old swimmer Penny Oleksiak. You triumphed the power of our female athletes with medals in many sports including rugby and soccer, again. You took a country that prefers winter and made them to proud to say we have ice in our veins.

Summer brought a bright golden lining to the ugly clouds that were cruelly hung over Rio by the media and experts all over the world. No one got Zika. The terrorist stayed away. The highest profile crime was by an American. Athlete. Medalist. Dancer. The stadiums, though empty, did not collapse. The government, though embroiled, did not collapse. The Russians, though booed, did not dominate.

The summer began with some interesting changes in the Toronto sports landscape. The Argos moved “home” to Exhibition Place. Football is meant to be outdoors. The Leafs had the number one pick for the first time in a generation, giving one more reason for the brainwashed faithful to celebrate a non-achievement. The Blue Jays have been winning in front of thousands of new fans, with the playing of our two Sluggers impacting the team forever. Bautista’s poor play probably rendering him an easier player to not re-sign. Encarnación’s unreal play probably rendering him too expensive to re-sign.

Summer has also shone unfortunately brightly on tragedy. Global terrorism has seen tourists senselessly run over by trucks, children at weddings blown to bits, priests guillotined at church, mothers with strollers gunned down on sidewalks, refugees drowning daily, pregnant women butchered by machetes, and earthquakes crushing entire families in their homes.

As a black man, the senseless killings of innocent people by police in the USA make it scary to imagine myself driving a car there. Yet, the tit-for-tat revenge assassinations of officers in the line of duty makes me even more sad, as does the Canadian Black Lives Matter group who irresponsibly hijacked the Pride movement attempting to denounce our police services. Given those events, I chose to dedicate my summer to those who Serve & Protect us. Wherever you are reading this, raise a glass – your coffee, your water, your beer, your milkshake, to the police in your community.

Summer made me realize how lucky we are to have Justin Trudeau. I don’t understand the haters who don’t like him eating poutine, hiking shirtless, or crashing a wedding in Tofino. Isn’t it great to have leadership in this country who wants to sing the praises of our land and our people? Yes, I am a bit awestruck by Trudeaumania II, and candidly I am no political expert, nor am I very political. I don’t know if he is doing a good job or a bad job, I just appreciate his enthusiasm for being Canadian.

If you don’t like Trudeau, you are welcome to move south, where the Summer of ’16 will be forever immortalized by candidate Trump. I have come to the conclusion that it really isn’t the man who scares me. It’s the millions and millions of people that believe in him. Maybe we should build our own wall?

Summer wound down on a sad note. Though word is that his treatments are going well, the country shed many many many tears for Hip legend, Gord Downie. It was like everyone was witnessing a best friend die at the same time. It’s amazing our ability to grieve publicly, for someone most of us will never meet privately. Perhaps when we see someone famous dying, we think of it like the end of summer.

The end of summer tells us we are all getting older. The change of seasons sadly makes us feel we are all closer to our own death. The end of August saddens us as we all have one less summer to cherish.