New York was hit by one of the hottest summers on record, the Gulf got its oil gusher, combat officially ended in Iraq, and the economy did not recover. We looked back at the big news stories of this past summer with The New York Times’ Jason Stallman and asked you how you’d define summer in six words. Here's what Stallman said, “It's so obvious, the six word sum-up for the summer is: Junk Shot, Top Kill, Blowout Preventer. All oil spill all of the time.” Listeners had a lot to say, too. Eric posted on our website, "Too hot, too wet, too short."

Listeners got in touch via text message:

From Denver, CO: Recovery, time, refreshing, time-out, trust, freedom

From Aurora, CO: What's up with everyone today?

From Fort Lauderdale, FL: Very difficult with uncertainty about work.

From Dennis, MA: Renaissance Faires: Life in the realms.

From Columbia, SC: Obama, a victim of the economy.

From Atlanta, GA: Hot as a penguin in Africa.

From Miami, FL: Summer of great changes and awakenings.

And on Facebook:

Kurt Kaletka: Relatives come, stay long, won't leave.

Richard Lopez: It keeps getting hotter damn it!

Meredith G. Wayne: How can it be September, already?

Christine Miller Mednick: Laid back, but too short dammit.

As always, thanks for the thoughtful comments!  Keep the conversation going on The Takeaway website, call in to 877-8-MYTAKE, check out our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter.