The Time We Still Have

AUGUST 31, 2018

The Time We Still Have

With each passing day I am becoming more aware that the days are slowly growing shorter. There are still 24 hours of course, but each day has minutes less sunlight which feels more haunting now than it did only a month ago.

Summer is slowly coming to a close.

It’s a rough realization for most of us, however, I know some real fall lovers who can’t wait to wear boots and sweaters.

I’d rather be barefoot.

Working as a waitress more or less qualifies me to read the weather on the news. It’s something I talk about a lot. It’s either too hot or too cold. Too sunny or cloudy.

Too smokey.

Even when the weather is perfectly conducive for any version of an outdoor activity it could always be something more or less.

We’re never satisfied, are we?

When the long hot summer days begin we lazily make plans thinking we’ll have a lot of time to get all those hikes and nights around the camp fire in. Sometimes it feels like we spend so much of the summer waiting for the perfect weekend and then all of a sudden it’s September and we can’t help but wonder where the time went.

Lately, I hear a lot of people say how many things they still want to do before summer is over; how many things they haven’t done.

So what’s it going to take to make a change? Are we making too many plans? Or are we not holding ourselves accountable for the plans we do make?

Deep down do we even want to tackle another mountain scramble or do we feel like we need to because, well, it’s summer and we’re supposed to get out and about.

I find myself looking at the calendar and trying to find blocks of time for all the things I still want to do before the snow falls. Even though I’ve had some incredible adventures this summer, some planned and some spontaneous, I can’t help but want more.

With each passing day, we grow closer to death; the death of a season, but death no less. In that moment where we feel the realness of time scarcity we can’t help but look back on where we’ve come from and where we’re going. It forces us to evaluate how we want to spend those last few precious days. We know the end is near and in a bittersweet way we have to prioritize; we need to decide what matters most.

Or maybe that’s just me.

I know I can’t do it all, so I’m forced to pick from the list and hold myself accountable – easier said than done – to get in the car, drive to the mountains, and climb until my head is in the clouds. I need to make time to pump up the raft and haul my nieces down to the lake before the temperature of the water turns their lips blue. I’d love to get a couple more wears out of summer dresses while sipping margaritas in sunny spots on a patio.

It’s not too late to make the most of it. Worst case scenario it snows in September and we start the next epic seasonal adventure. Not a terrible plan B.

-Ashley Atkinson

Ashley is a surfer, yogi and writer living and loving in Calgary, AB. She aims to write the way she lives – freely and unapologetically.

Read more of Ashley’s essays at www.anothergirlnamedashley.wordpress.com or follow her on Instagram @anothergirlnamedashley