Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Back to School


Back to School

Every year without fail, there comes an evening in late summer when The Songwriter is especially happy, almost gleeful.  His joy has nothing necessarily to do with his surroundings, although the evening in question did happen to fall this year while we were enjoying near perfect weather at our favourite beach.  But I’ve seen the same reaction at the end of sweltering days spent mostly in traffic; days spent mowing the lawn or washing the dogs; or even when he’s had the misfortune to be caught in the throes of a summer cold.  It doesn’t really matter what his day has been like, there will come a moment when he suddenly realizes that school starts the very next morning.  And he doesn’t have to go. 

 I was one of those children who loved school; The Songwriter positively loathed it.  Trapped and bored, he would look forward to summer holidays with the intensity of a convict awaiting parole.  They stretched before him, a breezy golden road with no end in sight, as far away to a child as September from May.  His high spirits dwindled with the summer days, however, and, whereas the night before the start of school always found me happily laying out a brand-new pleated tartan skirt alongside a crisp Blue Horse notebook, it found him in the lowest depths of misery. 

So I couldn’t help but find it amusing when he was recently asked by our town to sing at the dedication of our grand, sparkling new, primary school.  It was the first time I had been inside a school in years and years, and I was tickled to go along.  Sitting in the back of the auditorium, memories came flooding back as I gazed around me.  I remembered the thrill of being the very first person to use a gleaming new text book; the tantalizing crack when it opened; the delicious fragrance of the fresh, crisp pages. I remembered the smell of yeast rolls wafting from the school cafeteria at lunchtime.  It was easy to see myself in math class, fighting to stay awake as an autumn breeze blew in through the open windows, bringing with it the faintest scent of woodsmoke and falling leaves. Good memories, all. 

 As the program went on that afternoon I saw replicas of both The Songwriter and myself in the little faces sitting round me: scowling little boys, stunned at the unfairness of shortened summer holidays; prim little girls, bright-eyed and eager to impress.  While The Songwriter practically skipped out the doors when the program was over, I was tempted to linger, just a tad wistful for those long ago days when all I was responsible for was learning new things. 

It is no doubt an excitement held over from my own school days that causes me to consider this time on the calendar as the beginning of a new year.  When children start lining up at bus stops in the wee hours of morning, my dreams take on the hues of olive green and orange.  Yes, we can technically wear our white linen for a few more weeks without risking sartorial ruin, but my thoughts, and my heart, have already turned towards knitted scarves and tweeds.  Fresh pumpkin potpourri is now in the old Irish cache pot on my entry table.  Ginger tea is my current drink of choice.  I find myself looking at new art calendars; going over Christmas lists; checking the firewood stack.  As southern summers go, this has been a mild one, unusually so, but still... just as school seems to start earlier and earlier every single year, Autumn seduces me a bit earlier too.  I cannot help myself.  Perhaps I should go back to school?

But then came the early morning last week when I heard the faint rumble of the school bus making its way up the street.  It was just after dawn, much colder than normal for this time of year, and the rain outside my bedroom window was nothing short of torrential.  Crossing firmly over to The Songwriter’s way of thinking, I was happier than ever to be an adult.  Happy to snuggle back down in my downy bed.  Happy not to have to go to school.  I’ll just bake a pumpkin pie instead.

**********
Thanks to all of you for allowing me a bit of poetry indulgence while I was
away at the beach.  I had hoped you would enjoy some of my favourites... and judging by
the emails I've received... you did!  Makes me happy!

25 comments:

  1. I think we're all ready, in a sense, for a new season. Like it or not, it's coming soon. I can feel it. What did the songwriter sing?

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  2. How interesting to travel back in time, in a way, as songwriter sang in a school. I am happy I am no longer in school and no longer working. I love retirement.
    I am giving away a book on my blog today, a memoir written by a friend, who moved from China to the USA.

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  3. New semesters. I see that this week is ' reading week 'for the CC's. This must be a new way of extracting fees without med school providing teaching.

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  4. I loved school too Pamela. I enjoyed getting my stuff ready to take and if anything was needed for a project I would collect it religiously - enjoying every moment of it. Aren't we lucky it we feel like that?
    And by the way, I am one of those who absolutely loved your poetry days - I am reading the Ithaka one at our Poetry afternoon on Wednesday.

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  5. I love your stories. I always leave smiling.
    Love Jeanne

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  6. One early tidbit from my early school days was sitting with others in a circle in those little high-back wooden chairs taking turns in reading items from the Weekly Reader. Sort of gives my age away, doesn't it! My love of reading was born/instilled very early.

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  7. The scent of the yeast rolls! Thank you for bringing that back to me...and the new textbooks...everything. With the unseasonably cool weather, I have been in my "second new year" mood earlier than ever this summer as far as notebooks and plans go. Tho', unlike you, I can't seem to succumb to the pull of autumn, in general, yet.

    So glad to have found you again after a few years away,

    Lesley

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  8. Although school was not such a wonderful experience for me as for you, I still remember the thrills of opening a new notebook and with it the promise of possibilities to do well at the beginning of every new school year. LIke you, I enjoyed learning new subjects.

    Wonderful again to read all your sentiments, especially about England and London in particular. Our daughter contemplates college in bath and I am excited about the idea....

    Love ~ Victoria

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  9. School has been on my mind as the weather turns cooler. I love this post and your recollections of school.

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  10. Funny....Fall is my favorite season, and the start of school harkens to why i love it. It is not because of school pr se, but because of the crispness returning to the air, the change of colors, the difference in the light and the anticipation of the holiday season just around the corner. It is the nostalgia of school rather than the reality that calls to me! So nice to visit with you again!

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  11. I'm like you. I was always thrilled with the approach of autumn and school starting. In my young days when I concerned myself with fashion more than I do now, I loved the fat August issue of fashion magazines, filled with wooly herringbones, velvets, thick cable knits, boots, and big leather belts. The start of this school year is particularly notable for us, as it is the first time in 38 years that my husband hasn't gone back to the classroom to teach. He is feeling quite emancipated!

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  12. Love this post. In Scotland too, the schools are back this week. Yes I too sometimes yearn for "long ago days when all I was responsible for learning new things" (Beautifilly put).
    Happy New Year!
    Gail.
    PS I found this blog via Angus, Bob and Sophie.

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  13. I can only remember hating every moment in school . But Autumn is my favorite time of year and I do look forward to those leaves and cooler nights. This will be our first Autumn back in the US in 6 years ! So far, we are enjoying everything !

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  14. Look really great to express your views love the first pic thanks for sharing

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  15. Hello Pamela

    A beautiful account of two persons feelings at the beginning of the new school year. I had a brother, like the songwriter. I loved school too ad still do.

    Helen xx

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  16. Well! Here I am reading your blog when I should be in bed because…I have school tomorrow! I'm thrilled to be back in the classroom with a new crew of 100 7th graders. Only two days in, and we're all excited! From now through next May, I will devote heart and soul to helping every student discover the power and beauty and richness of words. For the next 9 months, my mission is to find those students for whom school seems like jail and help them "break out" and discover they have things to say and reasons to write! Yes, I love nothing more than the clean-slate feeling of a new school year…unless it's the satisfaction I feel at the end of the year, along with the mounting anticipation of a well-deserved summer break stretching before me…a summer that is now just a lovely memory.

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  17. Dear Pamela,
    I think that I am in both camps on this one ...... I used to love everything that the Autumn term brought ..... seeing friends that we didn't meet up with in the holidays, using my new pencils from my brand new pencil case that would, within a few days, be covered in the name of a certain boy or pop group that had taken my fancy !! etc, etc but, my mind always drifted back to those halcyon days of the Summer holidays and the fun that we had.
    Our schools don't go back until the second week of September so, there is still more fun to be had. XXXX

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  18. I was like you in that I loved school, I still get that new school term feeling in September and love starting projects then.

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  19. Ah yes, we are back to school next week, and after the unexpectedly lovely summer we've had, I am ready for my favourite season to begin. Tho I am not really looking forward to the school part....

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  20. Bake a pumpkin pie...sharpen a few pencils, pull out the fresh pack of lined paper, light a candle, place the flower vase close at hand, position self to a view, push 'play' to favourite music and create... Back to school...our way. :) xx

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  21. More writing here...
    Lovely to read your thoughts! Thank you, as always!
    xoxo

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  22. Thanks a lot for this post dude.. I missed my school life a lot..You gave me a time to think my old days

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!