The morning is lovely. A slight breeze is keeping the air cool. It is in the mid 70’s now, but tonight will drop to the high 50’s. Over the weekend, though, the heat will be back with temperatures in the 80’s. I’d complain but that seems silly. It is, after all, August, our hottest month.
When I was a kid, August had a dual personality. It is my birthday month so I was excited, but August also meant school was close. My fun days were numbered. To add to the end of summer misery, we school shopped. Sometimes I needed a new blue skirt and white blouse, my uniform, but I always needed new shoes and school supplies. I had to pick out my lunchbox. I remember an Annie Oakley lunch box. She was riding her horse and shooting. My shoes were sturdy, tie shoes, and meant to last most of the year so I only wore them to school. My supplies included a pencil box, usually made of cardboard with different sections inside holding pencils, an eraser, a small ruler, a pencil sharpener, small colored pencils, sometimes glue, and a plastic triangle which I used only for tracing, My mother added a small pack of Crayola crayons and a few notebooks, the sort with the spiral middles. If I tore a page from the notebook, small pieces of papers were all over my desk and the floor. My school bag choice took a while. When I was younger, I had one that was square, opened with buckles and had a strap for over the shoulder. When I was older, I had one of those green bags with water proofing inside which had a strap you pulled then you carried the bag over your shoulder. That was the last piece of my school shopping.
School always started the Tuesdays after Labor Day. We took our baths on Monday night and went to bed early. My mother had to wake us up early. That was, to me, the official end of summer.
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