End of September

Hard to believe it’s the end of September already. The last day of the month; days are cooler now and evening falls quickly. Nights are great for sleeping as the humidity has finally disappeared, and I’m wistfully hopefully that it never will return. The trees in my yard are turning wonderful shades of red and gold and orange, and the plants in my pitiful garden are looking sad and forlorn, as if they know that winter is just around the corner.

What should a person concentrate on this time of year? Fall? Halloween? Christmas (Gasp)? For me, I’m just concentrating on getting through the next few months one day at a time, trying to put one foot in front of the other until winter comes and goes and spring arrives again.

I’m hoping to spend some winter-time in warmer climates this year but nothing is definite. What in life is definite when you get right down to it? Not much, really, except death and taxes (as the old saying goes). And I don’t like either of those choices.

The university students in my town have taken over again. They are everywhere—in supermarkets, banks, the liquor store and the post office. I love having them in our town. They add life and youth and a vibrancy that the town lacks in the lazy days of summer. So what if I have to wait at a crosswalk for ten minutes while seemingly hundreds of them head to the university cafeteria? Small price to pay for the influx of money and variety they add to our sleepy little town, I think.

But they look so young now that I’m surprised they can cross the street by themselves! Baby faces, long hair swinging in the wind, backpacks over their shoulders…hard to tell which ones are high school students and which are university newbies. Sometimes the only way to tell is when they are carrying boxes of beer or bags filled with wine from the local liquor store. And even then I have to look twice to make sure, because they all look SO young!

For the next few weeks I’m going to try to enjoy the fall. I know that before I know it the weather will be miserable—cold and rainy and snowy with lots of sleet and hail thrown in for good measure. And then I’ll be missing the trees with their brightly coloured leaves and the mosquito-free yard and the sun-dappled deck in my backyard.

Here’s to a wonderful October and November!