Memento mori: Thoughts of Death and Rebirth in a Reminiscent Season

Each summer, I struggle with melancholy. It usually settles in about a week after school gets out. For a few days, I’m simply relieved that school is over and I can sleep in. Then, like coastal fog, melancholy settles into my soul. The rest of the world is enjoying vacations, barbecues, sun and sand, seemingly without a care. I, however, wake up to sunlight and a persistent sense of sadness that just won’t go away. My mood is more attuned to the days when a cool marine layer masks the morning sun. …