September is a transition month where summer ends and fall is coming and it seems to be the kind of month where you just say, let’s get on with it (the rest of the year).
September is a reminder month. There are many reminders: That the days are getting shorter and soon it will be dark when you get home from work.
That Christmas is coming nd as always, you don’t have the money to pay for it.
That Halloween is coming and once again you’ll have to interrupt your nightly routine to hand out candy to kids.
That Thanksgiving is coming and you’ll have to drive once again to Turlock and groan with boredom as Uncle Fred tells you that same story he repeats every year over the Thanksgiving dinner table.
That your lawn is as parched as it’s going to get (before the rains arrive).
That Monday nights on TV will feature huge men crashing into each other while chasing a stitched leather sphere (football).
September still provokes in me an automatic revulsion because it was the month I had to start back to school fifty-five years ago, and the heaven of my summer vacation (three months) came to an end. All of a sudden, dew appeared on the grass in the mornings. I would cry. But the days were still hot like summer.
But it wasn’t summer. Any more.
I had to go back to school wearing stiff new store-bought shoes and blue jeans.
The memory of this shock still makes me cringe.
September is a month full of foolish non-holidays and one legitimate holiday, Labor Day (September 4). Why is there Labor Day? Why should I celebrate work?
Something I’ve had to do all my life, and wish I didn’t have to do. The thing that has made my life miserable.
Wouldn’t it be better to celebrate something worth celebrating, like Get Rich Day, or Goof Off Day, or, I’m going to Tahiti For a Solid Month Day?
Something worth it.
Labor Day? That’s perverted. That’s like saying, I hate weekends and can’t wait for Monday. If you enjoy Labor Day, YOU‘RE INSANE.
Grandparent’s Day is September 10. Mine are dead. So, what are we celebrating here? That they lived, or died? The only reason for having Grandparent’s Day is because we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. The way they’re expanding this thing, we’ll eventually have a celebration of The Family Dog Day.
Mexican Independence Day is September 16. I’m not Mexican nor independent.
The Autumn Equinox is September 23. This means that leaves on the trees turn color and signifies change from summer to fall. But here in Monterey, that doesn’t mean squat.
Our trees are pines, and don’t turn color. Our sunniest time of the year is in fall. Our summer months are cold and foggy. We have our summer three months after everyone else.
So, even though it’s sunnier here in Monterey, the sun is going farther away down toward Australia.
The days are still hot, but the nights are colder.
September, a month of contradictions, can’t make up its mind.
You can read more columns by
John W. Sammon by visiting:
www.sammonsays.com
