It’s hard to believe school is already here.

Why would I care about school, you may ask.

I’ve been out of school for nearly two decades and wouldn’t even be mistaken for a older-than-average college student with a backwards hat and a backpack on.

But the return of school means the end of summer, which means it may be time for a bit of a retrospective.

My summer was great and I was able to check a few things off my summer to-do list, while other items were sadly left neglected.

I definitely didn’t get as much golf in as I had hoped. I’m hoping to exit the golf season with a splash at our inaugural Lions Golf Tournament next month. Any ringers out there that would like to team up, feel free to give me a holler.

Another of my favorite summer pastimes is riding bike. Unfortunately, as little as I’ve golfed, I think I’ve biked even less.

My last two bikes have been stolen, which is a serious bummer if you have a bike you especially like.

Fortunately, a friend of mine gave me an old bike that was sitting behind his shed. Unfortunately, it’s a real piece of junk and has spent the entire summer sitting in the little alley between the Tribune and city hall.

I think the fact that it hasn’t been stolen says quite a bit about it’s quality, or maybe it says something about the quality of people here as opposed to Minot and Grand Forks.

Summer and baseball go together like peas and carrots. But I haven’t been able take in much baseball.

I caught a few games of the Babe Ruth tournament in Rugby earlier this summer as well as the state championship of a American Legion Junior league in Minot a few weeks back.

But no Twins games or any other big trips.

My garden is finally starting to blow up. That’s led to another one of my favorite summer activities — grilling.

As much as a love a good steak or bratwurst on the grill, I think garden vegetables are just as good.

I’ve had plenty of music this summer, which is a good thing.

I was in the Village Arts production of “Les Miserables”, which was exhausting, but a good experience.

Aside from that, I’ve had a ton of gigs with my band, The Roughriders.

We had the opportunity to play at the Village Fair a couple weeks ago at the Prairie Village Museum.

It was a typical Roughriders show. We arrived fashionably late and hurriedly set up. Our PA wasn’t working properly but all it took jamming a toothpick into the back of the thing and we were off to the races.

The gig went fine and I hope the audience had as much fun as we did.

It was one of the highlights of the summer, but of course with school starting, that means summer is nearly over. And that means no more outdoor gigs and on to fall endeavors.