Labor Day weekend usually symbolizes the end of Summer. That’s fine with me, kind of. I’m ready for some cold weather again, though I have enjoyed the warmth this year. Shannon and I spent a lot of time outside this summer (usually not our first choice, but we made the most of it), I played a lot of outdoor volleyball, had the top off the Jeep a few times (not as often as I wanted, I need some soft doors), and made some trips to some places that involved water and just plain enjoying the weather.

Unfortunately soon that will all be coming to an end and Fall will be upon us. Which is fine by me because I love fall. Autumn, if you will. I love going back to class, checking out a football game or two, seeing the pretty leaves (or leafs, for Emily Z), and being able to wear jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. I’m looking forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving and fall weddings and that’s right, indoor volleyball.

Anyhow, I probably wouldn’t be contemplating the changing seasons this much if not for the fact that Shannon has left me. Well, for a few days at least. She’s gone to see some friends out of state. So I’m here to spend quality alone time thinking about stuff I don’t usually think about, work on stuff I haven’t gotten around to work on, and miss that someone I usually don’t have to spend time missing.

Aside from all of that…

The Hurricane Katrina / New Orleans stuff hit me pretty hard today because I spent some time during lunch watching some news footage and listening to some radio interviews and looking at some photos. I’ve been without TV for about a month, so I’ve been very distanced from the whole thing. But I think the country as a whole just isn’t getting a grip on how catastrophic this is. I mean, I flipped on Rush Limbaugh on the radio today, and his guest host was arguing with a caller about what to do with the land the city is now/was on. And the news is so grim with the looting and the absolute chaos that we will never be able to truly understand. Bodies and blood and fires and water everywhere in a city that holds so much history. And now it will never, ever be the same.

I plan on contributing to the relief effort as soon as I can spare some extra bucks, and everyone else should too, I think. This is on the level of September 11th, and is perhaps more important when it comes to raising funding for relief.

Anywyas, I’m tired now and I think perhaps I should go scope out some gas prices and see how much I’ll need to spend this week. Evryone have a good weekend, ya heard?