My Least Favorite Day of the Year

If the Friday of Memorial Day weekend is one of my favorite days of the year than the Monday of Labor Day weekend would have to rank as one of my least favorite.

One is all about the beginning of something I have looked forward to for months while the other is about an ending that comes way too quick.  Sure I know all about “local summer” and how it’s the best time of year to enjoy what makes the Jersey Shore so great.

That is if you have the time to take advantage of it.

Frankly I do not so when I walked off the North Avenue beach in Seaside Park Sunday following an 8-hour marathon day it might have been my season finale.

I’m not going to put my Tommy Bahama chair away in storage just yet but I have only a small window to get back on the beach before this month comes to an end.

More importantly what depresses me is knowing that before the next “beach season” comes I’ll have to deal with cold, snow and ice and for as fast as life seems to go the time between now and then might just feel like an eternity.

It’s funny how your viewpoint on things changes over the years.  When I was a kid growing up in Seaside Heights we looked forward to the day after Labor Day because it meant we were getting our town back.  We used to say you could lie down on the boulevard for a couple of minutes without worrying about a car coming in either direction and I guess that might still be true.

However as I get older the 97 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day have become more precious, a period when you can certainly squeeze more out of a 24-hour day then say in January.  The days are now getting shorter and while the weather will remain summer-like the season itself is pretty much over.

For those keeping count (and I am)  it’s 263 days until the Friday of Memorial Day weekend 2019.