As I sat out on the Adirondack chair on my deck around 1 am on Sunday night/Monday morning sipping on a Scotch and staring into the starlit sky, a feeling of contentment stirred inside of me. Over the years, 'summers-end' did not always have such a satisfying feeling - the summer of 2010 being one of the worst summers with my cycling accident and the painful summer of 2001 when I almost lost my wife. But this summer seemed different. This summer was one of the best summers I can recall in a long, long time. 

Let's start with the weather. Wow. Hot, hot, hot! No rain...not one single rainout game for the Green Monsters in baseball. Sure the water bill was crazy, but it's a small price to pay for having green grass and lush flower beds! And thanks to Mother Nature's constant sunshine, it was an amazing year for the Gardenia di Rotella! Last year was not a fruitful year in the garden, but this year...I can't believe how the peppers and the eggplants have grown. 

Here are a few highlights from the Summerof '16:

• We landed the great Steve Earle to do our first ever Light of Day Canada mini-tour in Kingston, London, Niagara and Toronto!
• We had a great trip to Boston to see our beloved Red Sox and our first tour of Fenway Park!
• We had a great baseball season with the Green Monsters!
• Evan opened for Joe Grushecky at Cabo Cantina in Niagara Falls doing 20 minutes and then joining our friend Danny Gochnour for a song and ending the night joining the Houserockers in a version of Satisfaction
• A bittersweet night on the deck watching the final Tragically Hip concert as Gord Downie bid farewell to his fans to face his battle with brain cancer

As I said it was one of the best summers I can recall, mostly because I got to spend a lot of quality time with my amazing family! It's important to cherish all of the moments we spend with our loved ones. It changes in the blink of an eye. Trust me...we know too well at the Rotella household.

Hope you had a great summer too. On to fall and hopefully a nice cold winter for the rink - The Evan Centre!

Enjoy every sandwich,

DANIMA Dave