Septembers

VFW Post #3485 had a 3rd-place float in the Labor Day Parade in Doniphan.

September gets shortchanged. We scramble to complete summer projects and errands while days are still warm and sunlight is still ample. These days do we schedule anything in September because it is September?

When I was a city kid, August was still part of summer vacation, followed by the back-to-school month, with the start day usually after Labor Day. School shopping and closet switching (you know, putting fall/winter garments front and center, with spring/summer to the upstairs or downstairs or the far dark corners), putting the pool away, finding the rakes, washing windows and screens, swapping the curtains - these tasks were delegated to September. It was a work month: homework and housework.

Once the Labor Day parade was over and the grill cleaned from the cookout, everyone was in bed early from the hustle and bustle of one day off. September slipped into a somber state while we looked eagerly toward awesome October with its fall colors, playful piles of leaves, bonfires, chili, homemade Halloween costumes and decorations and rehearsals of tricks to perform for treats on that bewitched night of neighborhood fun.

September, now that I am all grown up, I do appreciate you a bit more. I enjoy sleeping later; it has been a busy summer. Decorate? No. What does September look like? (For some of us, we might need to get 4th of July stuff down). You don't get enough acclaim for giving us the autumn equinox. To celebrate that, I will hang a fall wreath but in October when the leaves change colors. Till then, September, you and I will chill and enjoy just hanging around.

(This first appeared in Close to Home in the first September 2018 issue of the PN).