i feel like the summer is slipping away.

I've finally started to do all the thing I've been wanting to do since May. i went to Six Flags on Monday with a friend. i learned a few things that day. the first lesson, is that when you choose a partner to take with you to amusement parks, you should look for someone who not only enjoys the same roller coasters as you, but is easy to talk to. because when you go to amusement parks you end up spending a lot of time hanging around as you wait to get onto rides.and secondly, a two hour wait does not justify a double ride on a coaster. one of the rides broke down just as we got to the front of the ride and were actually sitting in the car. since we'd waited an hour (the ride broke down once while we were waiting too) we decided to stick it out until it would be fixed. they finally did fix it-after two hours. to reward those of us who'd stuck it out, they let us ride twice. but in those two hours we could have gone on three other rides. but then again, the coaster was then closed for the day, which means we wouldn't have had a chance to ride it.

i love roller coasters. i love that thrill that comes with swooping down, and looping over. i love that rush that i feel as the car is ascending the lift, and my heart starts pounding and my palms get all sweaty. i love that slightly dizzy feeling i get when i climb out and take a second to regain my balance and bearings. i do NOT love roller coasters that were built for statistics. which means i am less than fond of Kingda Ka. apparently all the techs in the park hate it too. they are pretty much all of the opinion that it should be torn down. it's very hard to catch a ride on it, because it is closed down more often than it is operating. i had a chance to ride it two years ago, and I'm never going to do it again, if i can help it.

on Tuesday i took a train ride with my aunts and cousins, to New Jersey, where we had a picnic. did you know that the New Jersey Transit conductors still wear those dorky looking hats? and they still yell "All aboard!" before the train leaves. although that could have just been done for effect. but by far the coolest thing about the train is that the seats flip back and forth, so that no matter which way the train is going, you can always face forward, a nice little thing for those of us who get nauseous when we face the wrong way.

today i sat out in the sun for four hours. it was partly cloudy, so i didn't feel like i was roasting. the pool was peaceful looking, and blue. it's been more like a shade of Mountain Dew for the past few weeks, because the pool vacuum broke. as a result of this, my father raised the chlorine levels of the water, making me feel like i was taking a swim in a Clorox bottle. today was the first day that the water was back to normal. so i sat out until my face rivaled that of a tomato. when i went out to eat tonight, my face matched the walls of the restaurant, and my bag.

despite all the activities I'm doing, books I'm reading, and people I'm spending time with, there are little reminders all over, that are hinting to the coming of September.

the leaves are starting to fall with increasing speed. no matter how often i sweep the deck and fish them out of the pool with a net, within twenty minutes, they cover the ground again. and as the days march on, the colors start changing from green, to yellow, with brown edges.

the camps are all finishing. brother1, sister2, and brother2 will be home on Monday, and the house will soon get back into its noisy pace that I'm (actually) beginning to miss.

everyone's talking about going back to school. the aunts sit at the pool discussing the annual trip to the shoe store, the signs in all the store windows proclaiming The-Big-Back-To-School-Savings-Sales, and there has been a flurry of textbook-borrowing, as every girl who is planning on procuring a science degree scrambles to find a chemistry and anatomy textbook.

the crowds in the pizza stores and bowling alleys are starting to slowly thin out as the male half the teen population are the first to make their way back to yeshiva. in my family, cousin1 has returned to Israel, with cousin2 to follow shortly on Sunday.

I'm going to make the most of my last two weeks of vacationing, by spending more time at the pool, and less time in front of my computer. more time talking to people in front of me, and less time texting people sitting twenty feet away. i will take more trips and have more barbecues. i will not worry about the textbooks that are waiting to be opened, and my uniform which is sitting in the closet, waiting to be ironed. the only effort I've made towards starting to think about school, was to move my stethoscope from around my headboard, to around my rear view mirror, so i think about it every time i get in the car.

but it's coming faster than I'd like to think. next thing i know, I'll see school buses on the road again, and then I'll wake up 21, and then I'll have to take out my boots and sweatshirts...