Why is it that no matter how old I get, September still conjures feelings of sweaters, plaid skirts, knee socks, new penny loafers, the smell of the inside of a lunchbox, the smell of leaves, for some of us, the smell of burning leaves, new notebooks, and yellow pencils. My memory goes back to praying that your friends would be in your class, that you wouldn’t get crabby Mrs. Anderson, that you wouldn’t get the early lunch…… All those feelings still happen as the calendar flips forward; ending the summer months with a picture of a more somber nature scene.
I look at it all happening around me and part of me yearns to join the kids on that first day back. I would skip with them to the school and hope that my curled hair and first day outfit would be favorably noticed. I would find my locker and carefully place my lunchbox on the top shelf. My locker would be clean, the floors would gleam, the desks would be in perfect rows, our names would be taped onto one corner of the desk in perfect block lettering. We would all gaze at the board and rise for the first Pledge of Allegiance of the year, hands over our hearts, saying a pledge that we repeat often but didn’t really think about, and sit down to start a new year. We are enthused, we are prepared, we are hopeful, we have started our engines. That is what I miss most. The feeling of starting my engine, starting something new, seeing old friends again, putting a shiny penny in my loafers, everything full of possibilities. Isn’t that what Autumn means? Summer of lazy days and humid nights are over now. So let’s pull up those knee socks and start anew. Crabby Mrs. Anderson be damned.
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I miss the cool clean feel of autumn on my skin, the crisp smell of winter on the horizon, and yes, it felt like a new beginning. I too loved those new penny loafers, and enjoyed thinking about who the new teacher (nun) would be, and was she someone we could torment for the rest of the year.
Where I live now in AZ, we have only two seasons - warm and miserably hot!
I always say that I can smell the first day of school in the air. Living in the Northeast, I hate it when summer decides to hang on past the start of school when we’d rather be showing off our new fall outfits than wearing those summer clothes we’ve grown tired of. I love the feeling of new beginnings, of knowledge not yet acquired but ready to be imparted to us, of crunching through piles of leaves and getting caught up with everyone you haven’t seen in a while. The kids now are so busy with their heads in their iPhones that I wonder if they even notice any of it. If they’re not interested, they can go to work for us and we will gladly take their place. New beginnings are not restricted to just kids anymore.
Oooh, I loved all the fresh new tablets, packs of notebook paper, freshly sharpened everything…..at one of the movie theaters in town they always had a Saturday with 99 cartoons and everyone got a new pencil box filled with stuff…..choosing that lunchbox design was the most difficult thing tho……my birthday is at the beginning of October, so for me it is always two new seasons rolled into one…..now I just have to work on my attitude about snow….
Oh… don’t get me started on the winter yet…. not quite as positive feelings around that anymore. I suddenly understand snowbirds….
Ahhhhhh September and fresh starts. What can I incorporate into my life to bring about yet another fresh start?
God bless, J