There is something quite different about September.

I grew up in Maryland where school started in September after Labor Day.  That was a definite change in lifestyle after a summer of heat, weekend beach trips, camping, amusement park visits, pool parties and cookouts. 

My birthday always falls around Labor Day and so does my older brother’s.  While we always had nice celebrations, they were held at the same time.  But, it was difficult time to throw a birthday party with friends because if you have a  party one weekend, most people are at the beach with their family.  If you have it the following weekend, school sports practice/games always started.   

Leaves started changing color in September along with acorns dropping to the ground which meant you had to dodge them walking home from school. It was fun to collect the most colorful acorns; of course the next day they were simply brown. I loved the change in smell from summer to fall…rotting leaves and acorns.  I still love that smell but hated seeing the leaves drop.  All of the trees would soon be bare.

I talked with my dad one time about September.  I couldn’t figure out how it made me feel.  We discussed the different things that we didn’t feel during other  parts of the year.  He said, “It makes me feel melancholy.”  I liked that.  Melancholy:  A depression of spirits.  Definitely a solid word for what September made me feel as a child.  My spirit wasn’t sparkling and vibrant at that time, rather it was mulling over a change in the air.  Summer was coming to a close, shadows were “getting longer” as the sun was dipping further south, leaves were changing color and falling to the ground, the temperature was falling.  Lyrics to The Beach Boys “All Summer Long” rang through my head. 

September gave me lots of time to think.  How would I spend my winter?  Would it be mild or harsh? How much time would I spend devoted to school?  Would I be able to take new art classes or spend more time on gymastics?  Going to the beach was out; too cold. 

But, September did seem to bring on a whole new life of its own that other months couldn’t claim.  Not even October, because by that time, the world around was barren, harvested and everyone was settled into their pre-hibernation activites.  Spring sees a lot of changes: growth, virant color and migratory birds arriving.  But in September you have to say goodbye to those things. 

I live in the South now; along Coastal Alabama.  The seasons are different than they are in the North.  Our pines drop needles in the late summer, decidious trees color and drop leaves around November and most everything else stays green, except my lawn.  Fall/Winter vegetable gardens are just getting underway and some bushes will start flowering from now through the end of the year.  Monarchs travel through here during September and October as do Hummingbirds.  Northern birds and waterfowl leave the upper states of America and some find new homes here.  So we see a lot of renewing here in September.

I still get a tinge of that melancholy feeling at the begining of September, but it definitely doesn’t last.  I enjoy the Fall here on the coast and really look forward to it with uplifted spirits.