Where I Was From

Technically, the equinox isn't til September 23rd.

The school district has erected little signs on the boulevard that look like ads for yard sales, but they read "School starts Sept. 4th" across the top and "Just Go!" in bold print in the center. I would have opted for "Resistance is Useless," myself, but I admire the straightforward plea they've chosen. They're not condescending to kids with that "School is Cool" tactic we got in the '80s. Honestly, tragic as the situation must be to warrant the school system feeling the need to actually advertise, I find it intensely amusing.

And there you have it - Labor Day is nigh. Which means positively nothing for me since I've postponed grad school for another year. I suppose it's the end of free concerts and movies in the parks, and the opening of birthday season (I mailed three cards yesterday. For those family members with distant spring birthdays, I also felt the need to mail two packages and a letter. When I walk into the Post Office, the clerks look up and say, "Well look who's here! What are you having? The usual?"). I made the most of my first real summer in six years: went to Tulsa for a real Fourth of July, attended a fair, hung around the Tastee Freeze a little, swam in the lake, took punishing twelve mile bike rides, got caught in the rain, read a stack of books.

So I'm finished, and I'm fulfilled. But I am going to miss one thing very much: the ice cream truck that drives up my street every evening just after dark. I've never been a customer. But there may be no sweeter sound than "Cielito Lindo" playing on that truck's chimey chimer. Thanks, summer. It's been real.

posted by Leah @ 12:41 PM