Bypassing August

Autumn and I, well, we've always kind of had a thing. 

We love each other, Autumn and I. 

She gives me colorful leaves, pumpkin patch excursions, hot apple cider, sweater weather, cool mornings and evenings with warm afternoons, crisp breezes, setting clocks back, hayrides.....

And me? What do I do for Autumn? I enjoy her. I bask in the bounty of her charms. 

But, every year there is one small problem that arises, one minuscule annoyance that must be overcome before I can annually bond with my Autumn. 

August.

I don't love August much. It is hot and humid. There are no fun holidays in August. August means the last sunshine-filled days of summer. The only thing that August brings is the impending doom of school starting back up again.

After taking a year off from pursuing my Masters, I am headed back to the classroom. It could be said that perhaps.......because of that.........that maybe August and I are a little bit more at odds than we have been in the past.

No, I don't like August much. Every year I try to ignore it but it just never seems to get the hint. It keeps coming back like the ants that keep marching into our house and refuse to drink the poison that we lay out for them. August sniffs defiantly at my poison.

So I give up. I cast a haughty glance its way and then I allow myself to partake in August's one amenity: back to school shopping. Fresh paper, new pens, a funky binder, an unmarked planner just begging to be covered.

I should leave it at that before I start thinking of the textbooks I have to buy.

Sigh.

Dumb old August.