As my wife Pat and I were taking a walk the other night, she mentioned how the beginning of school seems to signal the change of seasons.
Of course the start of fall is still six weeks away, but still there’s truth to that comment.
Many area schools and those across the state began classes this week. Along with that, athletic events like fall softball and baseball are already starting their seasons.
Football practice got under way as well.
Her comment took me back when we were kids. When we were growing up, school didn’t begin until the day after Labor Day and according to the calendar the first official day of fall is only about two weeks after that.
One of the calendars I have shows that fall begins on Sep. 22 this year.
So, officially, the fall season is at least six weeks away.
This week hasn’t and won’t seem like fall, the forecasters have been saying.
Even when I was starting college, and that’s been a long time ago, the fall semester didn’t begin until sometime after Labor Day and usually a week or so later.
Not sure why the shift in starting and ending dates in the school terms. If I recall correctly, it was a gradual progression.
Of course, when we were in school, we started after Labor Day, got a couple of days out for teachers meetings in either September or October, only had Thanksgiving and the day afterwards out and at Christmas maybe 10 days at the most.
We didn’t know there was such a thing as Spring Break and we went to school until at least just before Memorial Day.
Looking back I think, wow!
How that has all changed. I know I’m old fashioned to some extent, but I don’t understanding starting early in August and finishing early in May with as many days off that are allowed today.
I went to public kindergarten just down the street from my grandmother and grandfather McCormick’s house.
Beginning in first grade, I went to parochial schools through my senior year of high school.
I’ll never forget that first day of first grade and my grandmother Lynch walking me to class.
I was so scared that first day, but after that it was okay.
And it was the day after Labor Day that we started.
Oh my, how times have changed.