August 2. Where has the summer gone? In just a few short weeks, households all over Plymouth County will be getting back into the swing of things, establishing more normal sleep habits and taking the children back to school, whether they like it or not.

I've found, as I'm sure many of you have also, that your perception of time changes as you age. When you are younger, time seems to drag by -- especially during the school day. When you have free time or in the summer, curiously the time seemed to go much faster. It didn't make a lot of sense to me then, and as I age, it seems to make even less sense.

The mind is a curious and wondrous thing. I have vivid memories of delivering newspapers in the depth of winter, not being able to get or keep warm, no matter how much I wore or how fast I moved. The bitterness of the cold from 35 years ago is still very real in my mind. I remember wishing chunks of my life away during those dark and dreary Januaries, hoping to "fast forward" to a spring or summer when I didn't have to slave away for 45 minutes each morning delivering papers.

Boy, did I have a wrong number.

I can also recall times in the summer, working in corn fields detasseling corn after it rained, slogging through the mud, the humidity levels so high that trying to catch my breath was like breathing underwater, flies and other insects attacking the places that the corn plants were leaving alone. I also wanted to skip these days, getting back to the better part of summer -- goofing off with my friends. Those of you who have detasseled corn, did you pull tassels in your sleep? I did, or at least that's what my father told me when he woke me up.

We lived for those summer nights when we could hang out and enjoy some harmless goofing off. Summer nights are the coolest time of the day, and we rarely got into trouble. We mainly just acted like idiots, which comes with the territory when you are a teen.

Too quickly the school years pass, as we rush headlong to adulthood, seen from a child's perspective as the promised land. The old saying about being careful for what you wish probably came from someone who had wished to be a grown-up, and realized, as many of us do, that being an adult really isn't all that is cracked up to be. Youth, as they say, is wasted on the young.

Getting back to the return to school (or liberation day as some parents refer to it), it seems as if the displays of school supplies and clothing start coming out sooner and sooner each year. I think there were items on sale at the first of this month.

Friday and Saturday are the sales tax holiday for clothing in Iowa, so if you would like to save at least seven percent on your clothing purchases (back to school or otherwise) this weekend is a great time to do some shopping.

Although, it it very easy to look back and romanticize the past. In fact, I doubt there are very many of that don't indulge in this bit of self deception. I think sometimes it's simply a coping mechanism.

There is still plenty of time to enjoy summer, but parents and children alike need to be aware that, to use a sports analogy, the seventh inning stretch is long past, in fact, we are probably in the ninth inning (the top of the ninth, if it makes you feel better).

Get out and do something, even if it is as simple as going to the pool or out to see a movie. It doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you do it together. That's part of the fun of the whole experience, the interaction and reaction to whatever it is you are doing together. Think back on your own childhood memories, and I'll bet that family gatherings come to the top of your mind as pleasant or unpleasant memories (if unpleasant, hopefully time has made them seem funny).

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.