Septembers of the Past

I think I like September the most of all the months.  It is the only month with so many changes but they are usually subtle and most enjoyable.

As a young girl, it always meant that school would start the day after Labor Day.  I always looked forward to that first day of school so I could wear my new dress and shoes and socks and carry my tablet and pencils and crayons in a sack.  We didn't have backpacks and a plain brown sack worked just as well for all that we needed.  As I got older, I remember adding a ruler, a compass and eraser to the supplies.

And we never knew what the first day would bring.  It could be a warm day, the lingering of the summer as fall peeked around the corner.  Or it might be cool so that a sweater was needed for early in the day.  I don't remember a rainy day but I'm sure there was one or two.

But the excitement and just the feeling that summer was over made September a welcome month.  I could even smell the difference in the air.  It was crisper and seemed fresher.  The cooler temperature made the days pleasant even though it was sad not to have the long evenings of summer.  It seemed that as soon as September arrived, the sun wanted to set early so the time we had after school was really the only play time we had.  Once supper was over and chores done, it was dusk so we seldom went out plus the evenings were effecting a chill with just a touch of dampness.

It wasn't just the start of school and the end of summer, but it was the beginning of the change between summer and winter.  Fall.  That beautiful time of the year when the trees display an array of color and the grasses turn from green to beige, the Mums burst forth in multiple blooms and the best of all, the smell of burning leaves as the smoke curls upward and hovers over the neighborhood.

September is the month that brings these changes and allows us to make that transition from those hot lazy days of summer to the pleasant days of fall and before the hibernation of winter.

To this day when I rake up a pile of leaves, I can hardly resist that temptation to run and jump right into the middle of them.  I can laugh about it now but when I was young, I can remember being told to help rake up the leaves and then either my brother or me would immediately jump into the middle of the pile scattering them again with our laughter and glee until our parents called out to quit playing and start working.

There is no spookier sound than to be walking alone with a wind blowing making the leaves travel down the road with their swishing sound.  You can almost hear the footsteps of the unknown and the heart quickens and the breathing becomes labored until you reach your safe destination and feel the relief that you have escaped the unknown whisperer out there.

But my biggest memory is the burning of the leaves. All the color has disappeared leaving the dry brown leaves littering the ground waiting to be raked up into piles. The crackling of the flames as they devour the dry leaves along with the smoke rising from the burning piles signal fall is here.  And by the end of September as we look forward to October, the air was always heavy with the smoke from the numerous piles of leaves.

The cool mornings and evenings are like a sandwich for the warm day in between allowing us to get out and enjoy long walks, children playing or just sitting on the porch watching, listening and smelling the scents of the approaching fall.  September will always be my favorite month and bring back those many memories of childhood and the innocence it held.  September, the gateway from summer to fall.