There’s always a sense of sadness when the Summer Olympics come to a close. More than just the end of an entertaining series of games, it’s also a sign portending the end of summer itself, something that most of us would rather not confront. Oh well, theres no way to go back, except in this recap of the previous week of Olympic glory…

The week began with a rather lackluster Madonna Timeline. ‘Best Night’ was anything but…

Luckily, the Olympics held sway over most of the week’s proceedings, with spotlights on gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias, diver Kristian Ipsen, water polo player Marc Minguell, and diver Philippe Gagné.

This powerful woman may have been my favorite person at this year’s Olympic Games. Oksana Chusovitina gives new meaning to the term ‘champion’ and she showed the world what true Olympic spirit was.

Madonna came back strong and rallied for her birthday.

The garden came back as well, getting its second wind for the last part of the season.

A pair of decathletes: Ashton Eaton and Kevin Mayer.

A tutorial on how to get Tom Daley’s ass.

It’s not easy being green.

Strike a pose.

Albany knows how to pose too.

The Hunk of the Day was also dominated by Olympic hotties, including Bruno Fratus, Soren Thompson, Shawn Barber, Danell Leyva, Epke Zonderland, and Michael Hixon.

Finally, the trio of posts that encapsulated all that was the Rio Summer Olympics 2016: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.

I’m going to miss these Summer Olympics. They absolutely rescued this season for me, coming as they did in the midst of a dark summer, and they turned everything around to bring back some badly-needed entertainment. It’s one of the few times I didn’t need to feel guilty about watching hour after hour of television. (Aside from those Real Housewives’ marathons of course.)

The end of the games will be a rather unwelcome splash-in-the-face back-to-reality moment, just in time for the coming of fall. I’ll never be an optimist, so I might as well admit that summer will come to its close sooner rather than later, and no use in pretending otherwise. Ignorance has rarely been bliss. For now, there’s another day of the games, and a month of summer left to go.

Who else wants tomorrow?

“Romance and poetry, like ivy, lichens, and wall-flowers, need Ruin to make them grow.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne

Despite a spattering of recent storms, summer holds on.

In a re-blooming butterfly weed.

In a hot and humid night.

In a hanging fern from which flows a fountain of foliage, still spilling upward and outward.

And in a silly toga, perfectly breathable and cleverly vented, tied just loosely enough to allow for a quick change into skinny-dipping attire.

“Thus coarsely does the world translate all finer griefs that meet its eye! It is more a coarse world than an unkind one.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘The Marble Faun’

“The whole statue – unlike anything else that ever was wrought in that severe material of marble – conveys the idea of an amiable and sensual creature, easy, mirthful, apt for jollity, yet not incapable of being touched by pathos. It is impossible to gaze long at this stone image without conceiving a kindly sentiment towards it, as if its substance were warm to the touch, and imbued with actual life. It comes very close to some of our pleasantest sympathies.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘The Marble Faun’

“And, after all, the idea may have been no dream, but rather a poet’s reminiscence of a period when man’s affinity with Nature was more strict, and his fellowship with every living thing more intimate and dear.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, ‘The Marble Faun’

This tiny little tree frog has been visiting our den doors, clinging to the glass and peering in as we peer out, for the past few nights. He is a very pretty shade of green, one that isn’t quite done justice by this feeble photograph. It also doesn’t convey the minute size of this itty-bitty creature, which is roughly the size of a quarter, no more. When viewed up close, it becomes a most magnificent animal, with its tiny little hands and questioning eyes.

The world can fit in the palm of your hand, if you let it.