New clothes, new teachers, changes -- that's the fall season for me. Television golf becomes something of the past and now college and pro football teams vie for our attention. Summer's over. The barbecues and the beach are history. This is the time for making resolutions. I've never quite understood the New Year thing for resolutions other than we start over at January, the first month of the new year.
But fall -- it's filled with endless possibilities. Losing the weight to fit into that great dress for Christmas, cleaning out computer files, planting fall flowers, not to mention vegetables -- everything's a possibility. I might even start my Christmas shopping early this year! Certainly some of the stores already have geared up for it and are propositioning me.
I don't think I'm alone in feeling like this. A man was at our home recently, giving us an estimate on redoing our kitchen -- yeah, that's going to be a major new beginning and probably a hassle as well -- and he mentioned that the type of product he was recommending wouldn't show stains from water or ice. He went on to say that he was beginning "Sober September." I asked what he meant and he told me that he and his wife had decided to forego alcohol, meat, bread, and pasta during September so they could lose the weight they'd gained over the summer. He went on to say that New Year's or Lent was the time most people made resolutions like that, but to him September was the perfect time to do it. He told me his children had just gone back to college and since Labor Day had passed, he didn't need to worry that he'd renege because of celebrations or holidays. He has a point. How many times have the best laid plans been sabotaged because of a holiday or a festive occasion? A lot!
I love to see the return of the school buses, the children with new backpacks, and wearing outfits for the first time. My granddaughter transferred from a day care school to a, in her words, "real school." She's now in a pre-kindergarten class at an elementary school. And the most exciting thing in the world happened to her the first day of school. She was asked to name the room's pet goldfish. That's pretty heady stuff. So what did she name it? "Sparkle."
Her mother was reminded of the time, but was smart enough not to say anything, when she and her brother had purchased goldfish at a school carnival. She remembered the two of them coming into my bedroom early the next morning to tell me something was wrong with the goldfish -- they were floating. My husband was on a fishing trip so early, very early, in the morning we held a burial for "Sparkle" and "Darkle." After the goldfish incident, we decided we were better off with dogs!
My grandson, a third grader, was excited because his teacher said if they finished their lessons on time and correctly, they could play games such as Monopoly. That's a game I still love and of course I'm going to have to buy one so we can play it. It will probably be a new beginning for me when I realize how many different games of Monopoly there are now. I certainly found that out with a recent purchase of the Trivial Pursuit game my son and daughter-in-law love to play.
As we get older, we forget how exciting things can be when they're experienced for the first time. Let's face it, at this stage there are relatively few first time experiences, at least ones that I want to have. Monopoly for the first time, a goldfish, a new backpack, these are the first time things for youngsters, but we can still enjoy new things. Try planting something and watching it grow. Now that's exciting and a whole new beginning for that seed!