Week’s End Notes (17)

• With the arrival of August I always feel as if summer is nearly over. Even though, technically, it runs well into September. I suppose this has something to do with so many years on school schedules. Even now that I’m out of school, I have coworkers that teach classes at the local university and others with kids, so the reminder of school seasons still remains.
• But today feels like a proper lazy summer afternoon. I’ve been reading–finishing two books, actually–, sipping hot tea (is it un-American of me to admit I can’t stand the iced variety?), enjoying the rustle of the wind in the trees, the hum of insects, the slightly heavy air of a warm summer’s day.  I’ve my favorite summer playlist on, a mix of classic and contemporary jazz vocalists, with some Beach Boys thrown in for good measure. (Because what is more summer than Beach Boys?) It is still early afternoon, and I somehow feel that summer could go on forever, today.
• It’s not been an overly busy summer, which is nice, I think. Work was a bit crazy in June, the deadlines!, and in July we started learning/transitioning to new software (not to mention adding new staff to train), so that’s been…interesting . Most importantly though, I finally finished up all the requirements/paperwork and am now a licensed architect. (As opposed to the vague zone that I was in prior–law dictates that one can’t call oneself “architect” of any variety unless licensed, but the term the registration boards use, “intern,” isn’t accurate to the usage of “intern” elsewhere.) But in August though, I think we’re mostly settled back to our normal work routine.
• I half feel my reading summer has been lacking, despite the non-busyness. But that’s not really true, it’s just my blogging that’s behind. Somehow given the choice, the reading always comes first. Doubtless the same will hold true in August (lazy days of August), though I do hope to catch up on writing about the books I’ve finished recently before the end of the month.
• I still have one July-started book to finish, The Shadow of the Wind. I started it as a Spanish Lit Month read (and to take a title off my TBR pile), but despite an extension of the “month” into August, I doubt I will finish it before the official end date. Which is okay as I’m not sure I will have much to say about it except that I’m finding it a purely enjoyable read, a world I can just sink into. Sometimes it’s nice to have those sorts of reads.
• The rest of August is intended as a little bit of a reading “break”–I’m going to return to my Ohio project (and some non-Ohio reads as well) via comics. This should be fun! I have some definites on my list, but there are a fair number of options to pick from.
• I’m also starting to look forward to fall (autumn). Not only is it my favorite season, but it always seems the season for mystery reading, and I’ve been looking forward to mysteries especially this year. This is probably NPR’s fault, what with their ongoing “Crime in the City” series. I’m also looking forward to what seems to be my annual visit with one of the volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories.
• But that’s skipping ahead. There’s no need to hurry summer away just yet. Not as lovely as it’s been this year. All in good season.
• Happy reading!