Good stuff happens in August, but August isn't a good month.
Reasons?
- It's hot.
- It's long.
August drags by. Shorter months follow the ones with 31 days. Exceptions: August and January. January has a good excuse. It's the reset month, and shorty-little-February makes up for it anyway. August is long just because.
So why do we have August (other than 'cause Cœsar Augustus put it there)? Good things do happen in August, but I think the reason it's there is so that September can be well appreciated. When Julius and Augustus bumped the seventh month out of its spot, I think it got a blessing-in-disguise.
Whether you like warm or cold weather, September is happy to accommodate you. September hosts "Indian Summer," and the Autumnal Equinox. By definition, September is where hot meets cold.
On top of that, September is gorgeous. The days get shorter, the bugs either die or hide, the scenery catches ignites with a fire that cools instead of burns. But it still makes things satisfyingly crisp: crisp apples are eaten, crisp air is no longer a struggle to inhale, crisp leaves are stepped upon, often for their crisp sound.
To quote Regina Spektor in 'Time is All Around':
Leaves become most beautiful when there about to die,
When they're about to fall from trees,
When they're about to dry
Up.
That happens in September. And 'that' is nothing short of magic. It's September. It's a good month.
Bad stuff does happen in September. But still:
September is a good month.
So there?
Josie
Josefina you make my heart long to be outside in the September air, with a jacket and converse shoes on as a little kid romping through the leaves and coming home with bits stuck in her hair, where we'd eat baked potatoes. You describe the very Being of September with such clarity, it's...fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Josefina. You are my Sunshine. :)
Love, Me.
Josie. You must have forgotten that my birthday is in August. So it's still a pretty stinking cool month. But i must admit, you beautifully captured the essence of September. Just as you beautifully capture the essence of everything you write about. We need to play in some leaves sometime. You amaze me.
ReplyDeleteI agree about August being way too long an hot. Even here in Rexburg it's still feeling like it should be colder. I'm sure I won't be wishing for cold very much longer, but for now it's still fairly warm.
ReplyDeleteYou're pretty much amazing, Josie. That's about all I have to say. You make me want to drive up the canyon and watch all the leaves that are turning. sigh...
You're wonderful. Keep it up!
...keep being wonderful, that is. :D
ok fine, september's nice. but i have to admit i like august more. cool things happen like getting married and stuff.
ReplyDeletebut i must admit, your writing is too good for your own good and it almost has me convinced that september is better. i will admit, august seemed much longer...
Well, like I said, good stuff happens in August. I had the fifth and seventh in mind, actually: It was a birthday and an anniversary that made me say that good stuff happens. (But as far as the month itself, I still think September is a much better one.) :)
ReplyDeleteI like your copyright. :)
ReplyDeleteLove, Me.