Sunday 16th September

Even as a child when September inevitably meant the end of the long holiday and back to school, September was something to look forward to.  After that brief week or so of absolute freedom, those six weeks would begin to pall, and the thought of school, or meeting your school-friends, would begin to seem attractive again.  Maybe humans cannot actually stomach too much of a good thing, we are much happier when time is limited and we have to make the best of it in the time remaining.  The prospect of never-ending rest and relaxation may seem attractive until it actually happens and then you will be crying out for a bit of hardship.  And August is not the best month of the summer, by far.  May and June have a freshness about them, with the ever-lengthening evenings and promise of more good weather to come, and July starts off okay, but too often is a harbinger of August rain.  August is the second wettest month, after January, and seldom fails to pour down.

And then just as you think the summer is drawing to a close along comes September, and usually brighter sunnier days, without that oppressive heat of mid-summer.  So, enjoy this splendid month while it lasts, and October too, never as bad as you think it will be, before November mists and cold envelop us as we hunker down for winter again.