Sweet September

School,
Effort, and
Play.
Trying your best
Each hour of the day,
Making new friends,
Being good as you can
Exciting discoveries,
Reading books with a friend."
- Boni Fulgham

This is most likely more appropriate at the beginning of the month, rather than the end, but as I was searching for inspiration, it struck me.

I always look forward to September. For me, rather than January, it has always seemed to be the true start of the year. Possibly because of my birthday (today in case you didn't catch that earlier). Probably from associations with school. The death of summer, the start of a new school year. Tom Hanks said it well in “You’ve Got Mail” when he spoke of newly sharpened pencils. I also like to buy a candle in the scent of MacIntosh Apple for September. Where spring and summer are about color, and winter is about frosty cold, autumn is about scent.

For us here in the Far North, September brings leaves of red and gold and the smell of decay. You can smell the mustiness of leaves and mushrooms and the crispness of snow in the air. It’s a month of change. Flip flops are replaced by racks of snow suits in the stores. Boots and slippers go on sale. Sweaters take over the clothing sections and snow shovels push aside the grills and patio umbrellas. Halloween will be on the shelves if not this week, next for sure.

This week I’ll dig up my summer garden of weeds and scatter Arctic Lupine and Shasta Daisy seeds hoping come spring I’ll have an instant garden. Well, almost instant garden. The lemon thyme and johnny jump-ups should come back next year and I’ll start my sweetpeas come March. I’ll also buy my pansy and petunia starts much, much sooner.

So until my garden can grow outside once more (I brought my tomatoes inside where they are ripening one by one!) I’ll look to the last line of the poem above – Reading Books With a Friend – or three. And writing. Yeah, it’s a good time of year to hunker down and spend my time reading and writing. You can pick up a copy of Frozen to get you in the mood for winter, or Chinook Wine and Sink Her touches on the change into fall in Alaska. Then there's the modern Western, Cowboys Dream Too to help you snuggle in. Or if you don't want to let go of summer, check out Halo in Her Pocket. Of course, those are only a few suggestions to get you started.

Then there's Banned Book Week. What banned books have you read or plan to read? What do you like about Fall?

I’d love to see recipes, hear about rituals, and even see what you’ve got on your TBR pile. What makes Fall great for you?

Morgan Q. O'Reilly
Get Some Tonight
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