My favorite season is ending. It's still hot outside, but the sun is setting earlier with every passing day. I'm starting to feel fall coming on. Sweaters, textbooks, hours spent in the library or in a classroom... all of these things are getting closer and closer. Each time I complain about the my room being hot or compete for rights to the fan a little voice in my head reminds me that soon I won't be able to feel my toes. I'll spend my days sipping hot cocoa and shivering under layers of heavy, too-tight clothing.

My favorite season has always been summer. It wasn't because school was out (the reason so many other school children loved it) - but because of the way life slows down and becomes so much sweeter.

I'm going to miss the late nights where the concrete holds on to the day's warmth. The lazy mornings, waking up with a room yellow with an early rising sun. I'm even going to miss the bugs - the crickets, the bees, and the ants.

I wrote in my journal at the end of last spring about my feelings of apprehension toward this summer. Most of my dearest friends were leaving for far off places, I was looking at long days staring at a computer screen, and I had visions of last summer's struggles on my mind.

I had some unpleasant things (and a lot of really great things) occur this sumer. Looking back now I can see that a lot of good has come out of it. I've made new friends, had new experiences, and grown into myself a little more.

I hope that the things I've gained these past few months don't fade away with the flowers and the hum of summer. I'm happier than I've ever been and I'd like to keep heading in this direction.