and now the days have passed

I have a love/hate relationship with August

     I think that stems back to my childhood.  Usually in August we went to Dewey Lake in Michigan.  We spent a couple of weeks at my aunt and uncle's cottage, swimming in the lake and having fun.
I think we went then because my dad was tired of us and wanted a break.  He would stay in Chicago and come up to the lake on weekends, leaving my poor mother to deal with my brothers, cousins, friends and me.
     I have such great memories of those times, and for that I really love August.
     But I hate it, because when I was a kid, it meant school was looming.
     In Chicago, we started after Labor Day....which makes more sense than starting Aug. 14.  It is hot in August.  Not all schools are air conditioned.  It is humid.  Starting in mid August makes no sense.  I say bully for Wisconsin for passing a law that mandates schools start after Labor Day.  Of course, Wisconsin has a lot of tourists and maybe they wanted all those high school kids working minimum wage jobs for another couple of weeks while folks from Illinois spent money.
     When I got to be an adult, I loved August because the kids and wifey were going back to school.  Then I became a teacher and hated it because work was just days ahead.
     Love the heat.  Hate the heat.  Love the humidity.  Hate the humidity.
     Love that it has 31 days. Hate that the days are getting shorter.
     It always seems August has those hot, still days, where the wind doesn't blow and the air just closes in around you.  Those days I hate, but I also love sitting on a shaded porch, sipping ice tea, and doing crossword puzzles on those hot days.
     Hate for people to have to work outside in the heat.  Love that I don't have to.
     So there I am, torn between loving the month and hating it.
     Sort of like following the Cubs.  Who, if you didn't notice, are seldom playing for anything meaningful in August.  Or September.  Or July.  Or this century.
     But who knows, maybe next year they will be in the thick of it and it will give me another reason to love August.
     Or hate it.