CULTURE
Summer’s over!
My Grandmother’s 4th of July Proclamation that Always Ruined My Day.
I remember growing up being upset every 4th of July when my Italian grandmother would show up for the party saying, “Summer’s ova!” (She lived in New Hampshire and had adopted the accent).
I would get very upset and prickly with her and say, “No Gram, summer is just beginning.”
And she would reply in the exact same jovial voice, “Summer’s ova.”
I don’t know why exactly it upset me so much. I guess I loved summer and summer vacations and didn’t want anyone saying it was ova til I had to return to school in September. Back then school started in September and sometimes even the second week of September. So for me, no way Gram. My summer was not ova and anyway, why was she saying such a thing? Such a horrible thing and with a flair of joy? And yet, every year, she came waltzing in, sporting her star-spangled outfit (my grandmother was a great patriot) waving her American flag, repeating those words to ruin my day.
I chalked it up her being a pessimist in nature, like how every Christmas she told us it would be her last. But now age 58 I have to say that every 4th of July for the past 8 years I think, “that’s it, summer’s over.” Of course, I say “ova” because well, I just have to for effect even though no one around me gets the reference or knew my grandmother since I now live far away from family in California.
However, I say it just the same because she was right.
Summer Solstice happens on the 20 or 21st of June and at that point, the days actually grow shorter and by the 4th of July in the Northern Hemisphere, we begin to feel it, and indeed, summer is over. The peak has passed. The plants are at full or near fruition and we begin to lean toward fall. Sure the Autumnal Equinox is not until September but Lammas or harvest — the next cross quarter-day — is on August 1st and that is less than a month away; further proof that summer is indeed ova!
In the United States, it is our last big summer holiday bash. If we have young children we allow ourselves to begin to think about getting them ready for school. If we ourselves are in school we begin to plan for that and if we are adults with working lives, we begin to notice the changing light on our drives to or from work.
Summer’s ova. Enjoy the lean into fall and my apologies Gram. I guess you weren’t a pessimist after all.
©Theresa C. Dintino 2021