Summer as High and Low Season

What a linguistically weird time this is: Students are almost done with the school year and most will be off for the summer. Adults who get vacation time take the chance to relax a little. That would make it the time-off-season. But it’s also a peak travel time. What should be off-season is, in fact, high season.

It’s the time of end-term traditions. Among the multitude of activities common in various localities is the gym lock affixed to random fences.Sneakers dangling from overhead wires. I only knew about this as an end-of-school-year act until I did a little research and learned of the more nefarious meanings. Gangs and bullies take some of the charm out of this otherwise cute scene. I didn’t realize I was so sheltered.

Prom is a widespread tradition in secondary schools. Fancy clothes, upgraded wheels, and a reception to celebrate the end (or near-end) of high school. Without the parents. Seventeen and eighteen year-olds with their almost, but not quite fully formed brains, what could possibly go wrong?

Off-Season. Time to be enjoying ourselves. It’s a good season to try new things that nobody has the chance to do the rest of the year. Maybe that’s why camp is so good for kids. For the rest of us, it’s sometimes too hot to do much more than drink cold beverages and take in the surroundings. Read a book, drive the long way instead of the highway, binge-watch a tv series. Sandwiches or barbecue for dinner. Cold cereal for breakfast. Fresh fruit all day long. That would be the life.