9.02.10

Today's date is synonymous with an Emmy-robbed television show of the same name.  I mean, really, who in the 90s didn't want to walk the halls of West Beverly High with Brenda and Brandon, Donna and Dylan, Kelly and Steve, and sometimes David Silver.  I don't think anyone really want to hang out with Andrea (not even Brandon).

My favorite of the four seasons is autumn, and although it's still hot and humid here in the mid-Atlantic, I know that falling leaves are just around the corner.  Even Starbucks has brought back the pumpkin spice latte, one of my all time favorites.  Growing up, August signalled the return to classes, and I remember the excitement of buying back-to-school clothes and supplies (who knew how excited kids would get over pencil cases and brightly-colored erasers).  John Updike's "September" evokes that same feeling for me.

SEPTEMBER

by John Updike

The breezes taste

Of apple peel.

The air is full

Of smells to feel–

Ripe fruit, old footballs,

Drying grass,

New books and blackboards

Chalk in class.

The bee, his hive

Well-honey, hums

While Mother cuts

Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean

With suds, the days

Are polished with

A morning haze.