I am not a teacher, I don't have kids, but this is one of my favorite times of year. I know, traffic is terrible for my morning commute, but there are so many other reasons to love back to school. Besides getting to eat lunch at the more popular hangouts and having a little less hoodlumdom through the week nights, back to school is the harbinger of the most wonderful time of the year.
I have always loved back to school. It was a fresh start. New clothes, a new year, new teachers. It was almost like getting a redo every year of your life. The thing I loved most about it, was that it started (at least in my mind) FALL!
I am so excited about fall this year I could wet my pants and squeal like girl..Well you get the idea. I get this way about fall every year now. Football, caramel apples, that crisp feeling in the air, the smell of dried leaves, Halloween, harvest festivals, swoon. What isnt to love about this awesome season?
It wasn't always great for me. My dad and I, and to some extent my sister, shared a weird wanderlust that time of year. There seemed to be a struggle between the need to migrate and the need to nest. It almost seemed primordial. We felt like we needed to prepare for winter, but we grew restless. I'm not talking about restless like pack up the truck and move to Beverly, but like 2 hour drives to nowhere. It was this time of year, I personally felt the need to try to look for houses. Dad would grow quiet and just drive. I often wondered if he was a little saddened by the dying of things in the fall. He is more of a spring person... rebirth and renewal. Fall is kind of the curtain call of the year. It's a neon sign flashing the finality of all that is green and lush.
For me, I feel the need to store and hoard and gather...like a squirrel. I also feel the need to smoke meat. Yes I am 10 minutes from 3 grocery stores, but you never know what could happen in the winter. I find the tales of harvest and preserving and communal preparation so romantic. I know in reality there isn't much romance in butchering a hog, but still, I think it's the co-dependent independence if that makes sense. Communities relied on each other, but not on the government or China, or anybody else. The economy doesnt really matter much when you're self sufficient. I think I am a terribly old soul stuck in a disposable world. I have been fortunate to find a clan that kind of feels the way I do and tries to preserve the knowledge of the past. I think in a former life, I was a granny woman - tough as nails but nurturing, practical but with a weakness for pretty things. I sometimes picture myself stirring a big pot of something, missing a few teeth, but knowing exactly how to care for my family. Sometimes, today, I catch myself wondering "what would granny Teresa do".
So my celebration of Fall turned into my twisted version of survivalist reincarnation. What are ya gonna do? Get a caramel apple and watch some football, and if you get really into fall, get a kettle and make some apple butter.
