THE TIME

That's right. The rain comes down on Summer. The rain beads up on lily pads. Or are they tears? Tears for the traditional end of Summer and the beginning of Fall and Back to School. Oh, I know, school's already underway in the Midwest, but for the most part, in the rest of the civilized world, it starts, or should start today.

And that's sad. Oh, Fall is great. October nearly everywhere is a beautiful month. But someone else is in control now. Once school starts. And time walks, crawls, completely stops in some classrooms as eyes look to the clock in disbelief. After ten minutes of class, you still have 35 more to go. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Nope. Not in that one class that wrecks your school year and GPA.

But you know what? It's that way on the other side of the desk, too. There's that one class, maybe even that one student that wrecks your day. And that was always the beauty of the block schedule. You only saw that class every other day. Sure it was for twice the amount of time, but it was worth the break.

So no more running through Summer fields and parks and backs of empty lots and cemeteries. No more endless days at the beach and ballparks (observing, of course, because no one actually plays baseball or basketball anymore as the fields and courts remain dormant in the Summer.) No more hanging out with friends until late, late hours. No more being dropped off at the golf course and playing all day with a break to swim for awhile. No more late, late sleeping. At least for 5 days a week. No more family vacations. No more picnics or reunions or get togethers over food and drink.

All because Summer ended with a thud. And all control was lost.