Labor Day Blues Remembered . . .

For me, the end of summer has a poignant melancholy about it. It comes of growing up at the seashore. At the shore, Labor Day was the end of everything fun–of boyfriends, free time, the excitement of new friends, of trips to the boardwalk and beach with visiting cousins or friends, and of days or nights spent working at some cotton candy, spin-a-paint, food concession stand, or amusement part on the local boardwalk. For me, Labor Day and the end of the tourist season signaled the end of my freedom for the next nine months.