Weekend Log: Summer. Starts. Now.

Howdy Midlifers!

It’s official: summer is here. Okay, okay—I know it’s not officially official. Like, the proper season doesn’t begin until almost a month from now on June 21. But here, on the Jersey Shore, Memorial Day Weekend is the rope drop into what feels like — according to Instagram — everyone’s favorite season. For some people, summertime can make up an entire identity. “See you in September,” many of them say, indicating they will be setting up camp at the beach for the next three months. “It’s my happy place,” they say.

As many of you may already know, I do not subscribe to that mindset. My identity, which leans more towards Morticia Addams than Gidget, is not sad that this year’s holiday weekend looks to be an absolute washout along the East Coast. “Oh dang,” I say when the bad weather comes up in all the many conversations I’ve found myself in this week about the upcoming MDW. Everyone from my office friends to the girl who washed my hair out after getting it colored this week wanted to know what my plans were for this weekend.

TBH, I am the master of deflection, so would quickly point the question back at the asker. I’d say, “I don’t know now that the weather looks so terrible” — as if I had a non-stop itinerary full of exciting events requiring good weather — before asking, “How about you?”

Of course, many of those conversations were with much younger people, who still love to go into a Memorial Day Weekend with full dance cards. I heard about 5Ks followed by outdoor cocktails with a deejay in someone’s swanky backyard and nighttime plans at The Parker House or Jenks. The kids are on the go and, probably, trying to keep up with what they see everyone else doing on social media.

Talking to my older friends, it’s a different story. All the cool 60+ kids, whom I am soon to join, are having a pretty chill weekend. This is one of the many upsides of aging—my FOMO is definitely decreasing as it becomes increasingly apparent I’m not really missing out on anything.

Currently on my docket is a brunch with girlfriends and then touring one’s recently completed home renovation, the new Star Wars movie with my son, spending time with a sister, a potential trip to IKEA to return something and a recovery meeting—just to keep it all real. My grid will be popping!

Once, I had a miscarriage on the Friday of MDW and the following year I had a baby, so this year’s lineup seems pretty tame in comparison.