A TGB Reader Story: The Season of "In Between"
Tuesday, 11 September 2018
By Carole Leskin
Labor Day weekend. The end of summer. Not really, of course. The calendar tells us that happens on September 22nd. But we know better.
The tourists and summer renters go home. Children go back to school. Families return to their normal, hectic schedules. Carefully tended gardens begin to wilt. And the sun sets earlier as if to say, "Time to go back to work. You've done enough playing for now."
Summer is not my favorite season. I love fall - the colors, fruits and vegetables, crisp air coming through open windows. Wearing sweaters and lighting the fireplace. Walks on brightly colored leaves and listening to them crunch beneath my feet. Hot chocolate and spiced apple cider.
And yet, I always feel this strange sadness as I turn the calendar page to September. A longing. A desire to hold up my hand and say "Stop! I'm not ready". Like I was as a girl - not wanting to leave behind my beloved cabin on the marsh by the bay, my sanctuary, the freedom.
I will look out over the now-almost deserted beach and listen to the seagulls and crashing waves. Watch the sunsets - different now than just a few days ago. I will think about all the summers past and wonder what the fall will bring.
Mother Nature growing older. As am I.
[EDITORIAL NOTE: This feature, TGB Readers' Stories, appears every Tuesday. Anyone age 50 and older is welcome to submit a story. You can do that by clicking the “Contact” link at the top of every TGB page or at the Guidelines/Submissions page.
Please be sure to read and follow the guidelines before submitting a story. It will save me a lot of time.]
Oh, so beatiful said!
Posted by: Cristina Margarita | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 06:12 AM
Wonderful writing. Thank you.
Posted by: Gabbygeezer | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 07:40 AM
Carole, this was just beautiful! I feel the same way! Thank you so much for your lovely poetic words.
Posted by: Suzanne S. | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 07:44 AM
A story written in a style that embraced its subject!
Thank you.
Posted by: Mary McCarthy | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 08:30 AM
I fall in love with fall every year as well. Thank you for this writing.
Posted by: Simone | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 08:41 AM
Beautiful. Fall is my favorite time of year too.
Posted by: Susan R (Pied Type) | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 08:47 AM
I would love fall more (...and it IS my next-to-favorite season) if it weren't a harbinger of winter. That is kind of how I feel about my current autumnal season of life, too.... Thank you for sharing your evocative writing, Carole!
Posted by: Ali | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 09:27 AM
I love this--so evocative of this annual change. Thank you.
Posted by: Pilgrim | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 10:01 AM
Thank you, Carol, for your lyrical 'good-bye' to summer. Writing such as yours stimulates true nostalgia and memory for the reader. It is a gift.
I too feel Fall is the loveliest time of all, yet without the writer's gifts, I lean on the poets to speak for me. You may enjoy this brief poem I found in one of the magazines the small grocery stores gave free when I was a new bride....60 years ago! It truly is Fall in the mountains of Nevada.
SEPTEMBER
September is a stallion with a flowing, tawny mane
who has never known a bridle, nor rider, nor a rein;
a steed of bronze and amber whose bright hooves
strike the ground with a sharp, staccato rhythm
and an icy, ringing sound.
September is a mustang from wild, untrammeled
skies who gallops down the earthways with
wind enchanted eyes.
~~~Virginia Moran Evans
Posted by: Charlene | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 10:27 AM
...and the picture was a beautiful illustration of these lovely words.
Posted by: Theat | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 11:09 AM
The story accompanied with the picture will linger in my mind.
Enjoyed it and I thank you.
Posted by: Phyllis Schmitz | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 12:09 PM
As always, Carole, your words paint pictures and evoke feelings. Thank you!
Posted by: Wendl | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 12:14 PM
Love this. PERFECTLY conveys exactly how I feel
Posted by: Karen m | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 12:15 PM
This is absolutely beautiful and so expresses how I feel. I lived in NC for many years and loved the fall colors, but it did bring a sadness of another year almost over..time marching on.
Plus I didn’t like the cold icy snow weather that follows.
Spring ended up being my favorite season...still is..
"In looking on the happy Autumn fields and thinking of the days that are no more."
Tennyson
Posted by: Mary | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 12:21 PM
Great writing. Fall, too, is my favorite season.
Posted by: Gen C. | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 12:36 PM
Carole,
Your lovely words draw us in.......you paint gorgeous pictures using only words...AND you skillful use of them. This little essay , and its illustration, will linger with me. Thank You!
Posted by: Fritzy Dean | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 03:12 PM
PLAN TO SHARE THIS BEAUTFUL
Beautifully expressed in words and photo - Loved every word - just how I feel about summer and the changing seasons.
Posted by: millie garfield` | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 04:23 PM
A story worth saving and re-reading. Thank you for a lovely tribute to a transitional season.
I start singing "The September Song" and feel a sad pull as the days slip by so fast, but I do agree that the beautiful Fall leaves and the crisp air are worth the pain that this season brings to me.
Posted by: Darlene | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 04:44 PM
I also love the season of Fall, for many of stories we read above!
Posted by: Marilyn Bunte | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 08:10 PM
Very poignant .... word pictures ..... eliciting melancholy feelings!
Posted by: Joared | Tuesday, 11 September 2018 at 08:57 PM
Loved "...In Between"
Posted by: Barbara | Thursday, 13 September 2018 at 08:34 AM