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I woke up this morning at 5. 
My plan was to workout before going in to work, however it was still
dark.  So I shut off the alarm and went
back to sleep.  It was a reminder that
summer is coming to a close and fall is nearly here.  Soon the leaves will be changing and here in Flagstaff we will need to
start layering.  I was in a terrible mood
until I remembered that somewhere, a child is starting school.

I remember those last days of childhood summer being
filled.  They were the last days to play
until stars were visible; the last moments of shorts and bikini tops and
pigtails.   For my sister and me, it was the last days for
our wardrobe as well.  The last weeks of
summer were always spent shopping for new school clothes and the weeding out of
clothes my mother deemed inappropriate for public use.  Well loved jeans with holes so big you could
easily mistake them for shorts and matching boots.  Shorts that were too tight or short after a
summer of growing and shirts that were missing sleeves, necks, shoulders and
middles.  They all were phased out, many
against our will, to make room for the new.

As much as we hated the loss of our comfortable clothes,
there was always great anticipation of the new. 
I have wonderful memories of trying on new jeans.  Oh new jeans. 
At that time in fashion history, jeans were 100% cotton.  100%. 
That means that your jeans fit like a second skin, but not when you
bought them.  Breaking in the new jeans
was also an end of summer ritual. 
Putting them on for the first time in the fitting room and thinking
about how maybe this year I’d get hips to fill them out.  Perhaps they’ll get a rip in the left knee,
just a small one, which I could tear at during math class.  Will this sweater be cool in October?  Could I wear a t-shirt under it without
looking lame?  Is this neon color just a
fad?  Maybe this year, scrunchies will go
out of style.  So many possibilities are
reflected in a dressing room mirror.

I’ve been out of school for over a decade.  I miss buying new school supplies.  I miss the potential of a new notebook.  The beginning of a new year, a clean slate,
and the pledge that I would not procrastinate, I would get straight A’s.   The first weeks of school were hopeful days
filled with opportunity.  My sister now
teaches Kindergarten and her new class just started.  A whole new set of children with futures
unwritten and open to the fears, dreams and hopes that a new fall brings.  While the late arrival of dawn heralded the
end of another summer and made me slightly depressed, it also marks a new
beginning and I’m ok with that.