From the Heart: Sweet September
September really is a very sweet month, touched with a tad of “bitter” as well.
It signals the beginning of so many good things such as a new school year, cooler temps and bountiful harvests in farmers markets throughout Berkshire County.
New Englanders know it also signals the soon-to-come breathtaking fall foliage that usually begins before the month bows out. We can already see tinges of light orange on some of the trees.
“Oh no,” I always hear myself say. “Not yet. I’m not ready.”But autumn’s arrival waits for no one.It just sashays forward in colorful splendor for a few brief weeks before Old Man Winter comes bumbling in.
September is also a double birthday month in my family. My darling little granddaughter was born on the 19th, one day before my own birthday.
In a way, I’m glad she came a day before my birthday so she could have her own special day to celebrate.
One of my favorite old-time tunes is “September Song.”Boomers, remember how Frank Sinatra sang it with gusto?
The haunting melody fills me with nostalgia, especially the following lines: “…but the days grow short as we reach September;” “And the days dwindle down, to a precious few;” and “There’s no time for the waiting game.”
Well, there’s really no time for the waiting game in any month. Each moment we breathe and live is precious. That fact becomes more profound as the years tick by.
When we are young, we think we have all the time in the world to do whatever we want. Our lives stretch in front of us like a vast ocean with no horizon in sight.
But in the later decades of life, that horizon gets closer and closer and the ocean becomes a mere puddle!
So what’s the solution to the days dwindling down to a precious few?For me, it’s living in the moment.
Right now, as I sit at my laptop, writing this column, I can hear some neighbor’s wind chimes tinkling through the open screened kitchen door.
The floor is nice and clean which always gives me a good feeling and there’s a bouquet of fall flowers in the middle of the kitchen table.
Wind is rustling the leaves of the trees which tower over our house and backyard. While their shade has made planting a garden a wispy dream, I’m still glad they are there. After all, the trees were there long before I came along and will still be here when my own life is just a memory.
It’s comforting to hear the rustling of the leaves and, when the sun pours through them,see the patterned designs they make on the back porch and even on part of the kitchen floor.
A visit to a local farmers market this past weekend helped stock the refrigerator with candy sweet corn on the cob, fresh eggs, waxed beans (fabulous boiled and then tossed with a little melted butter, salt and pepper) and goat cheese from South Hadley.
Gorgeous red tomatoes, way fatter than the palms of my hands, sit on a cobalt blue dish on the counter. (I read to never refrigerate tomatoes.)
The calendar for the week ahead is filling up fast with many different activities but it’s not wigging me out. I’m happy to have a crammed schedule with lots to do for my own family and for others. That makes life full and even kind of exciting!
If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or if you’re just taking everythingin life for granted,I have a suggestion for you. Look up old blue eyes’ rendition of “September Song” on YouTube. Sit down and really listen to the words.Then, for sure, every minute, for the rest of sweet September, will be savored.
Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero
on September 19, 2013. Filed under From the Heart.
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