Tonight, the sound of marching band practice floats and rises, the notes nearly visible in the late summer air. Again, and again, the melodies scatter and settle in waves across our village.
High school athletes strut and sprint on the practice fields, as coaches’ whistles trill, corralling their spirited colts into organized teams.
Squirrels quicken their collecting, hummingbirds tighten their garden tours, and bullfrogs cease their courting calls.
September is here.
How is this possible? How did summer pass so quickly? How did we let it slip away?
Can you recall those endless days of your childhood?
Fifty years ago, a starchy Peter Pan collar, wool jumper, and new school shoes pinched as I left behind the freedom of June, July, and August. There were, of course, chores and expectations during those three months of bliss, but my brothers and I raced through our daily jobs, and soon the screen door slapped behind us. Our shady yard, fields, and woods quietly waited. Those childhood weeks brimmed with adventures: we built forts, we raced our bikes, we picked wild strawberries. In the peace of the woods, we discovered secret deer paths and salamanders in the leaves. On rainy days, our mother took us to town, where Mrs. Green patiently helped us select our library books. Or we stayed home, working puzzles and playing board games around the old kitchen table. We spent the humid summer evenings peacefully protected from mosquitos on the old screen porch, reading or listening to Tiger Baseball while the annual cicada chorus intensified all around.
Our town pals enjoyed different things: summer recreation programs at the Old El, pick-up games at the school playground, swimming at the village beach. Some lucky friends traveled the interstates on family vacations, their fingers tracing the routes on road maps while billboards hawked the latest tourist attractions.
But gradually, the Michigan evenings became cooler. We perused the JC Penney Back-to-School Catalog and took the annual school shopping trip. We selected our first-day outfits and tried on our shoes. We found our book bags and sharpened our pencils.
Yes, eventually, the season of freedom must end, and all children everywhere must wave goodbye to beautiful summer.
Farewell to dancing fireflies and bath-free summer nights—to cousins and staying up late.
Adieu to bike races and skinned-up knees—to cottages and travel campers.
Adios to Dixie Cups of Kool-Aid—to roasting hot dogs and tenting under the Michigan stars.
As this summer ends, let’s look forward to sweatshirts and an extra blanket at night. To cutting back our gardens and planning next year’s plantings. To watching the corn fields dry and the harvesting begin.
Let’s celebrate small-town Friday Nights: the gathering of our communities at the athletic fields and the crowd’s occasional roars, breaking the quiet of a village night.
Let’s watch the maples display their fabulous fall frocks.
Let’s listen for the honks of the migrating geese.
And let’s welcome sweet September.
It’s a Fine Life.
By Kathleen Oswalt-Forsythe © September 5, 2019