For me, September has always had that end of summer / back to whatever vibe, but with caveat. Growing up in Los Angeles you don’t really experience the seasons changing the way most of the country does. It’s still hot, the leaves don’t change, and the days still feel like long summer days. Aside from the shift from summer to school or summer hours at work back to regular hours, September always felt like a bit of a lie to me. Magazines and TV talk about the fall, but the experience is kind of alien to life in Southern California. I spent my college years in Connecticut and a few years after that in New York,and that’s when fall really clicked for me. Actually, I think I like September better on the east coast. But one shift I do like is that I tend to switch up my reading habits. For whatever reason I read a lot of nonfiction in the summer. September is when I start to shift back to fiction. I just finished Before the Storm by Rick Perlstein and I’ll probably read Reaganland next. But after that I’ll probably pick up a novel.
As a transplant from New England to San Diego I was surprised, happily, by the extension of summer in September but the longer I've lived here, the more I notice the subtle shifts of each season. It was a relief in the beginning not to be enslaved by the oncoming winter but now I find that all it takes to evoke a bit of that September feeling is the changing slant of light, the changes in my neighbor's gardens, even the relentless threat of heat and wildfires. Mostly, though, I experience the month inside -- it calls up memories of past beginnings I guess.
It's interesting that your reading shifts from nonfiction in summer to fiction in autumn. What novel do you think you'll pick up?
I’m not sure what I’ll pick up next. Ross Macdonald has been on my TBR for years, so this might be the year I crack into his Lew Archer novels. I was also on a Kim Stanley Robinson kick in the spring. I’ve been thinking about reading his Mars trilogy.
This is what I copied from your newsletter this morning: "I am content but I am also wistful, settled but also restless." Same. And some vaguely familiar excitement as I begin, one baby step at a time, to re-enter. "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" is on my ever-growing TBR pile. Thanks.
as a former teacher, september was met with some dread. After a summer working another job outside of education, it was time to face the students for another year. Each year was different, but also the same in some respects. The students were different, of course, but the sameness came from the bell schedule, the hurried 15 minute lunches in the teachers room, new rules handed down each September by the principal, and the shortage of supplies. Still, I liked the job.
Such wonderful reading suggestions! I’m looking forward to Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, as I loved “Hamnet.” I’m currently reading a fantastic novel titled “Perma Red” by Debra Magpie Earling.
You, too, have roots in NH then? How nice. I think one of the main things I feel this time of year is a special kind of homesickness for family and for New Hampshire.
I think I am going to carry my New Hampshire clock inside me for the rest of my life. Even in the middle of this confounding heat wave and dry wind in San Diego, I still feel that poignancy - that feeling of having to drink it all in before the winter sets in.
my body tells me it's the season of slowing down, less of everything, and relaxing into it
For me, September has always had that end of summer / back to whatever vibe, but with caveat. Growing up in Los Angeles you don’t really experience the seasons changing the way most of the country does. It’s still hot, the leaves don’t change, and the days still feel like long summer days. Aside from the shift from summer to school or summer hours at work back to regular hours, September always felt like a bit of a lie to me. Magazines and TV talk about the fall, but the experience is kind of alien to life in Southern California. I spent my college years in Connecticut and a few years after that in New York,and that’s when fall really clicked for me. Actually, I think I like September better on the east coast. But one shift I do like is that I tend to switch up my reading habits. For whatever reason I read a lot of nonfiction in the summer. September is when I start to shift back to fiction. I just finished Before the Storm by Rick Perlstein and I’ll probably read Reaganland next. But after that I’ll probably pick up a novel.
As a transplant from New England to San Diego I was surprised, happily, by the extension of summer in September but the longer I've lived here, the more I notice the subtle shifts of each season. It was a relief in the beginning not to be enslaved by the oncoming winter but now I find that all it takes to evoke a bit of that September feeling is the changing slant of light, the changes in my neighbor's gardens, even the relentless threat of heat and wildfires. Mostly, though, I experience the month inside -- it calls up memories of past beginnings I guess.
It's interesting that your reading shifts from nonfiction in summer to fiction in autumn. What novel do you think you'll pick up?
I’m not sure what I’ll pick up next. Ross Macdonald has been on my TBR for years, so this might be the year I crack into his Lew Archer novels. I was also on a Kim Stanley Robinson kick in the spring. I’ve been thinking about reading his Mars trilogy.
This is what I copied from your newsletter this morning: "I am content but I am also wistful, settled but also restless." Same. And some vaguely familiar excitement as I begin, one baby step at a time, to re-enter. "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" is on my ever-growing TBR pile. Thanks.
I think you'll like the novel, Judy. Here's to re-entry.
Yes the change in seasons brings many things to mind. It brings opportunities to welcome the cool nights and fire pits
Cool nights and fire pits are a wonderful combination.
Betsy -- I'm a new subscriber looking forward to getting to know your writing. A great mixture of emotion and perspective. Thanks
Thank you, Mark. It's good to have you here.
as a former teacher, september was met with some dread. After a summer working another job outside of education, it was time to face the students for another year. Each year was different, but also the same in some respects. The students were different, of course, but the sameness came from the bell schedule, the hurried 15 minute lunches in the teachers room, new rules handed down each September by the principal, and the shortage of supplies. Still, I liked the job.
Yes, we had a weekend home not far from Squam Lake. Went there a lot over a decade. Miss it tons. The fall reminds me how homesick I am for it.
Such wonderful reading suggestions! I’m looking forward to Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, as I loved “Hamnet.” I’m currently reading a fantastic novel titled “Perma Red” by Debra Magpie Earling.
I am probably one of the few people left who has not read yet read Hamnet. I am still looking forward to it and after that, this new one.
Thanks for posting the Willie Nelson video. So lovely.
September is always my favorite month but it makes me miss our old home in New Hampshire.
You, too, have roots in NH then? How nice. I think one of the main things I feel this time of year is a special kind of homesickness for family and for New Hampshire.
Thanks for the shout out! I loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. It destroyed me in the best way.
Your review of it was one of the main reasons I picked it up when I did. I really loved it.
I think I am going to carry my New Hampshire clock inside me for the rest of my life. Even in the middle of this confounding heat wave and dry wind in San Diego, I still feel that poignancy - that feeling of having to drink it all in before the winter sets in.
Who knows what normal is and when the usual routines will return? Maybe we are just stuck in a very very long season with no real name.