Gathering rosebuds?

It’s finally Labor Day. And at the same time, oh wow, it’s Labor Day already? How did that happen?

Time moves so oddly and so unpredictably that it’s possible to be surprised by just about every event, even on a calendar as stuffed with them as an American Jew’s, particularly at this time of year.

We’re coming up to another grief-filled one.

It’s been gorgeous these last few days; the extreme heat’s gone, and now it’s glorious out. I was walking my dog when I looked up into the sky and saw a vast expanse of deep, lovely, entirely cloudless blue. A perfect blue. Why did it make me so sad?

Because it was a 9/11 sky. That was the color of the perfect sky on that terrible day, until the smoke from the demolished Twin Towers drifted north and west. That was 24 years ago, but to those of us who were there then, it feels like it could have happened at any time. Impossibly long ago, and impossibly recent. Time moves so oddly and unpredictably.

But for now, we should take joy where we can. We can glory in the blue sky, have our last unhurried barbecues, spend time with the people we love.

Before we fall back into the election season, which will be fraught with rage and fear this year — New Jersey’s gubernatorial election seems relatively straightforward, but New York’s mayoral race already has drawn a feeling of validating, self-righteous, almost satisfying sense of rage in many people who are not eligible to vote there, while creating a far less emotionally gratifying but constant sense of insecurity and indecision in those of us who are. (We’re glad you know exactly what to do! We don’t! Leave us alone!)

But for now, it’s still summer. Maybe we can still gather some rosebuds? Or are they just out of season by now?

—JP