Rememberfest

For my little crew, St. Mary’s Septemberfest is really the reminder that our summer days are pretty much behind us for the year. But for one night Alex and I take our car and park in the grass (he loves that part), check out the skateboard/BMX show and get unlimited ride wristbands. He uses most of the unlimited powers on the Funhouse. It’s been his favorite since he first knew what a carnie was.

The Funhouse is always Alex’s first and last ride of the evening.

But his second to last ride is the one I’ll remember the most from tonight. The NASCAR ride. The NASCAR ride was very popular and as he prepared to ride it at the end of the evening he had to share the car with a girl just about his age. Watching their faces light up as the car whipped around the corner, seeing their little noses crinkle each time they passed through the cloud of menthol-laced smoke emanating from the carnie, and how they high-fived at the ride’s end before they went their separate ways…

Well, it made me think of Frank Sinatra’s great paean to summer, its memories and its passing as the season changes.