The End of Summer

The best time of year for some. Contest entry, 430 words

The End of Summer

The beach is clear. I have at least 200 yards on either side as does the next person. The tourists are home, the kids are in school. At 9am I'm sitting twenty feet from the surf. It’s the end of the summer and the beginning of off-season.

Coffee, swim, read, repeat – that’s it for the next five hours.

As the morning progressed rain moved along the shoreline. I like to watch rain approach. The clouds at the top are sunlit and bright, happily white, darker as you look down and then thick haze to the ground. The line of rain moves steadily, sometimes lazily, along.

After a short swim the beach population is even sparser than it was. The fuzzy line is closer. It’s time to make a decision.

Should I get out of the rain?

I reviewed my plan.
Rain was out of scope.
I performed a risk assessment and developed mitigating actions.
I vetted the mitigating actions.
I defined additional effort and assessed the effect on the original timeline.
I checked the budget, adjusting for each option.
I determined the actual risk and considered my risk tolerance.
I checked for outstanding issues and found none.
Finally, a detailed check of the modified plan.
After careful analysis the decision is made.

What the hell, I’m already wet.

It was a fantastic, all encompassing warm rain. The kind that replaces sweat with fresh water running down your face and off your nose. To add to the entertainment there was lightning a few miles out – sudden, clear bolts going straight to the water.

The storm moved on and left us with gray and wet and breezy weather. An elderly mom and her daughter walked by. “Wasn’t that great!”.

Mom was a marginally older than myself and her daughter was marginally younger. We talked for a few minutes.

It was a moment of our own. We were all older persons who, after decades of avoiding rain, were able to sit, relaxed, enjoying this one.

We didn’t need to run for cover. We didn’t have to concern ourselves with going into work soaked, being out for errands with the kids or carrying a baby into the house. We didn’t need to worry about soaked feet or wet grocery. We let it rain and let the sun dry us when the rain was done. The three of us understood how great the last hour had been.

Mom and daughter walked on.

It’s the end of summer, the beginning of off-season, the best time of the year.


Word count: 430