September Blog
“The brain is wider than the sky.”
Emily Dickenson
September is here with its National Read a Book Day and another day for National Literacy Day. In some parts of the country the month should also include a National Lose a Sweater on the Playground Day, since the weather starts out a bit cooler in the morning and then warms up. When I was a principal our Parents Day always included a table of sweaters and light jackets for parents to identify and collect since the children seemed to not recognize their own clothing although they’d been reminded and cautioned morning after morning to not forget the named clothing. On the other hand, I’m looking out of my window and the magnolia tree across the street is flowering. The blooms are resplendent with lush petals. The shadows the tree casts on the sidewalk dance in the breeze and make the walkways look like jigsaw puzzle pieces.
I love this window. For the longest while my bedroom chair was on the opposite side of the room and the window was simply a reason to have drapes. Now that my chair is next to the window it is my constant moving picture of the busy outside. Early morning finds the dog walkers and the earnest exercise joggers. The joggers are mostly dressed for their exercise and their tops match their bottoms and sneakers. The dog walkers on the other hand act as if we should be grateful that they’re wearing anything at all. Pajama bottoms, wrinkled slacks, tops that have strange sayings on them,doggie bags hanging from a leash or waistband, and dirty sneakers are the usual outfits. The dogs seem to be a happy bunch and occasionally bark to express their importance on their exceptional walk experience.
The rest of the morning is generally punctuated by Uber deliveries or Instacart deliveries. As noon approaches the cars begin to go in and out of the underground parking for the buildings. Many people appear to be working from home and noon time is when they start on personal errands. Few people are out walking at that time.Today we had a fire truck and ambulance park outside. No one from our small building needed help, but someone from next door had called. The four year old below us was delighted with the fire truck and made all of the men wave which made him shout to someone inside “that’s the one.” I assume Michael wants a small fire truck for his collection.
Meanwhile Barnaby (our dog) lost his doggie treat under my bed. This caused him to cry-bark, stick his head as far as it would go under my bed, and try to show me where I should look. Since I can’t bend down that far or kneel on the floor I have a long grabber stick thing that I use to kind of sweep under the bed and corral whatever Barnaby misplaces. It took me a few sweeps, but Barnaby finally got his treat back.
The ambulance took off with sirens blaring, and parents and children started coming back from the various preschools the little ones attend. All of this was before the general walking stroller time that starts about 4:00 when the sun is not as high in the sky and the temperature is a bit cooler. I love this window. My world is richer for it.