18. Summer's End

 John Prine returns to the blog with a song from his final album and it is outstanding. His voice sounds weary and it fits this song perfectly. I have heard this song deals with the opioid epidemic. I like to think it is a little less dark than that, but who knows.

The song really appealed to me because of the name and how it begins. 

"Summer's end's around the bend just flying
The swimming suits are on the line just drying"

Growing up and even as an adult the end of summer has always filled me with melancholy. Maybe it is because my birthday falls during this time and that yearly milestone tends to lend itself to reflection on the passage of time. Nevertheless, Prine paints beautiful images so simply. I can see the swimsuits still drying on my parent's deck after a day in the pool as a kid. I can see the towels drying on the line on a northern Wisconsin vacation with my family as a kid.  Just a few weeks ago my daughter's swimsuits were drying on our patio on the last day of summer break before they "returned" to school. A year older and and so much more grown up.  

The song moves along and so do we. The seasons change and so do we and like Prine I like to look back and see that old picture of us walking. To me it is pictures of my kids walking together or with me and my wife. So much changes in a year.  Growing up so fast that one day there won't be any more suits drying on the patio at the end of the summer. Summer's end does come faster than we want, but we have to let them grow up. As long as they know they know they can always come home.

#johnprine #summer'send #staylittlekids