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Unplanned moments help us savor the last of summer

August 13, 2013 By Käri Knutson

Soon after the last of the Fourth of July fireworks go off, the feeling sets in.

While we are in the thick of summer with our grills going, our shorts on, our windows open or our central air cranked, we know: The end is near.

Summer isn’t just a season. It’s a mindset.

Photo: couple sitting on Union Terrace at sunset

Unplanned moments, like seeing an affectionate couple sharing a sunset on the Union Terrace, can help you savor summer’s waning days.

Photo: Käri Knutson

Summer has us planning. In the beginning, all we can think about is how much we want to do. By the middle, we’re thinking about all that we still want to do. By the end, it’s Country Time commercials and that line about summer’s end.

We have grand plans for places to go, people to see, marks checked off our never-ending to-do lists. The end of summer is a deadline – did we have that sunny summer we envisioned back in May?

On campus, summer means fewer students, summer classes and sunsets on the Terrace. 

My first evening on the Terrace came in April on one of those perfect nights when you just can’t believe your good fortune to be here. In this city. On this campus. With these friends and strangers who all seem to be smiling while eating brats and cheese curds.

The call of the Terrace is strong, but it feels different as the summer goes on. In April, all I could think about was how many more times I’d be sitting in an orange chair talking to a friend about how awesome this was.

By August, I’m living in fear of knowing that each visit is one fewer that I’ll be able to have.

In the midst of trying to check off all the items on our Perfect Summer List of Things We Will Most Definitely Do, there are those other things that are unplanned. Moments that cannot be planned.

Everyone on the Terrace seemed completely happy — if only for a moment. No one was thinking about summer ending or those long lists of things to do. We were under the power of that sunset.

For me, one of those happened — fittingly — at the Terrace. I was catching up with friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. How was work? How were the kids? What trips had they planned for the rest of the summer? Yes, we should get together again. Soon.

But then it happened. I got up from the picnic table for a moment. And had a moment.

It was the sun. And it was setting as it does every day of the year. But this was one of those perfect sunsets — one of those where you want to turn to strangers and say, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Sitting on the pier was a young man with his arm around a woman.

It was a postcard brought to life. An unplanned moment of serenity and absolute beauty. Everyone on the Terrace seemed completely happy — if only for a moment. No one was thinking about summer ending or those long lists of things to do. We were under the power of that sunset.

There will be a last summer night on the Terrace.

The conversations about how nice the weather is are turning to how much longer the weather will be nice.

Summer will set. As will the sun.

Fall, though, isn’t so bad. Football, falling leaves and the buzz of a busy campus are all things to look forward to.

Still, we will miss summer. And we should.

But we should also stop and smell the sunsets. We can find joy in many unplanned moments if we take a break from our to-do lists. That is never time wasted. And it might help carry us through those cold months that we best not speak of.