oh September... I love you

September is my favorite month.  All of my life it meant the return to school.  Things have changed in my life time and school seems to start earlier in August every year.  But September is when I feel the shift in the weather and I sense the difference in the sky as the sun transitions from Summer to Fall.    I love September sky the most.

The weather is unpredictable and yet there are always a handful of cooler mornings that take the edge off the brutal Northern California heat.   The sidewalks cool, and there is a reprieve.

And then school is busy once again and the communities again are bustling with school buses and Saturday soccer games.  I love to see all the back to school pictures and first day pictures.  All the kiddos... that is what I like the most.   I hear the Friday night football games.  Kids in backpacks, carpools are things that remind me of the best part of my childhood and why September is king.

I do recall long summer days of hide and seek, long walks, bike rides, rollerskating, and getting to play outside, summer trips to the mountains and Ft. Bragg.  I was a wild child and I roamed the woods and the sea alone.  I found shells, frogs and snakes and filled my pockets with treasures.  Unaware of time,  I crossed cold mountain creeks and sat at the bank's edge and watched sticks and logs float by.   September came and put a structure and time back into my life.   I did not hate it because it was time to stop roaming and become part of someone's roll call. 

Summer was time for playing in the sprinkler, playing with the hose, front yard fill up swimming pools and slip N slides. Summertime was backyard BBQ and time to read and afternoon baseball games.   It included "going for a drive"  to get burgers and shakes, and it meant coke or root beer floats for dessert.   September came and brought  back routine and accountability and a chance to learn and to be with the teachers and provided escape from home.

September was an end to the  lovely summer break, but an exciting time to go away from home and be with school mates, wear rain coats, carry umbrellas, and carry paper sack lunches.   I love September  as it took away some of the loneliness of the summer of roaming and reminded me to be part of something, school, choir, art, plays.

I alway welcome September - I wish it was always September.