Back on the grid

September: new pencils, new shoes, school clothes, book covers made out of brown paper bags. For me, September is beginning again. End of summer. I love the chill of fall, the first red leaf, the first fire in the fire pit. I make promises in September. I make schedules. I get back to things I've let slide. I read more. I write more. I start new knitting projects. 

This September 1, I awoke to loud thunder and bolts of lightning flashing across the rooftops. Both kids sleeping under this roof. Gogo's 82nd birthday party of all you can eat chicken at Wright's Farm at noon. 

Seventeen Septembers ago I was waiting for Grace to be born. The promise of fall and a new baby. I remember that every September 1, how full of hope and joy we can be. I steel myself too, for the inevitable memories that overtake me this beautiful month.