It’s Labor Day weekend, and I’m here to remind you that summer’s not over, even though schools and scolds try to lop off the final two weeks, declaring a premature finish to a season that, as any equinoctial will tell you, extends until Sept. 22. Hang on. Linger in the post-7 p.m. sunsets while you can.

Finish the book you started in August. Make it to the beach. Stay a little looser.

The apples and sweaters and soups are standing patiently by. I’m reluctant to let summer go because I’m reluctant to button up, to start rushing again. I associate summer with wandering, both literally and culturally.

I was chatting recently with my colleague Minju about this season’s big films — “Spider-Man,” “The Odyssey,” “The Devil Wears Prada 2” — and we realized our most satisfying cinematic experiences were the detours those blockbusters sent us on. Minju was reminded how much she likes Samantha Morton, who played Circe in “The Odyssey,” which sent her to rewatch other films Morton starred in, like “Jesus’ Son” and “Minority Report.” I loved “The Invite,” directed by and starring Olivia Wilde, and set off to watch her in Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” from July, and also to revisit her prior directorial efforts, “Don’t Worry Darling” and “Booksmart.” “Don’t Worry Darling” stars Harry Styles, who’s currently performing a 30-show residency at Madison Square Garden. I didn’t get tickets, but I’ve been dancing to his delightful 2022 album “Harry’s House” all summer.

Of course the omnivorous consumer follows her aesthetic bliss year round, but the expansive days of the warmer months lend themselves to cultural meandering. Minju read Rachel Cusk’s new book “Life of M,” then wandered back to her earlier “Outline” trilogy, which she’d meant to read but never had. Olivia Rodrigo’s duet with Robert Smith on her new album led me back to Smith’s days with the Cure, “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me” and other albums from the 1980s.

I had been eagerly anticipating “Remake,” Ross Mc Elwee’s documentary about making art after the loss of his son. Before watching it, I went back to revisit his 1986 film, “Sherman’s March,” knowing the new one referenced it and I’d want to have it fresh in my mind. After seeing “Remake,” which was stunning, I immediately cued up Mc Elwee’s 2011 doc about his son, “Photographic Memory,” and set out to find out where his other family documentaries were streaming.

My Mc Elwee journey was long, winding and totally absorbing, a cinematic ramble. I like the wisdom to always be planning your next trip or vacation, even if it’s far in the future, so you have something to look forward to. If the end of summer brings with it a little sadness, as it does for me, why not plan your cultural itinerary for the fall? Where will “Practical Magic 2,” a 28-years-later sequel starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and Dianne Wiest, lead? To Bullock’s hilarious turn in “The Heat”? Wiest in “Edward Scissorhands” or perhaps off the path to her small role in “Footloose”? Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel “Partita” comes out Oct. 6.

Will we be rereading “The Poisonwood Bible” and “Demon Copperhead” come Halloween? The origin is the equinox, the destination is the solstice. You can choose your waypoints, but the detours and diversions will emerge once you’re on the road.