Bare feet upon a sea of grass newly painted by the morning dew, a symphony of birds greeting the new day as busy people and busier cars rush off to work. Summer is nearing it's end once more and all that can be said is "Where did it go?" yet again.

Summertime is often synonymous with joy for many of us, from days leisurely spent at the beach to exciting trips to the zoo. As they say "time flies when you're having fun" and before you know it, it's time for the youngun's to head back to school as it is time for many of us to head back to school ourselves.

As joy filled as it may be, Summer brings with it a certain pain that the other Seasons can't quite manage, in that we so desperately miss it as it leaves us.

Were it to last forever Summer would not be Summer, without the Fall and then Winter; Spring and Summer would surely get 'old.' Because we must undergo the tough Ecological transition that is the Fall and then endure the harshness of Winter, Spring and Summer are all the more enticing as a result. Although both Autumn and Winter are not without their own particular brand of beauty, from the leaves changing color to the mystical feeling of waking up to a world newly blanketed in soft white snow; or slushy wet 'snow' that soon becomes ice.

As I sit here realizing that in more ways than just one today is my last day of Summer, as I'm graduating in the Spring; I am trying to keep my reflection upbeat but there is honestly a great deal of pain also involved. While I've long understand that there's no such thing as the real world, and that we are all of us forever trying to figure out who we are and what were doing and why? It's worth noting that I, as with us all, can't help but to look back longingly and wish to spend one more day at the playground before worries of financial debt, career-management and more financial debt. This time in our lives ought to be one of both overwhelming excitement amidst the deep-seeded nervousness that comes with 'leaving the nest.' Instead we as a society are often filled with dread more than anything else, as with 'great power comes great responsibility' and we've all come to often appreciate our responsibilities about as much as we despise them. While the Fall and Winter may bring with them tough transitions and harsh new realities of life, they may still mystify us as they did when we were young. Snow Days may become few and far between, just as shoveling it all up can break our backs, but Spring and Summer shall always return.

Let's all of us head back to school, once more touting that same old cry "this year will be different," this year we'll try.

Backpacks filled to the brim with overpriced books, rooms left a-mess because there's no parents around to care, syllabus week and all it entails, and even the professors all balancing their scales. It's time to return to cafeteria food and hall bathrooms, or at least for the Freshies, drunken adventures and classroom endeavors. Summer is passing but it's Spirit still lives on. Here's to the days worth remembering, and even nights we'd prefer to forget, here's to the joyful aura of Summertime and here's to the pain of it passing. Good luck be upon you, and just know, Summer is with us always, even in the snow.