September

Sunday Musings On The 13th Of August.

~ beetleypete ~ 48 Comments

Well, we finally had three days of summer during the past week. Very pleasant to see, and actually quite hot one day. (27C) Ollie spent most of his walk in the river that day,, cooling off. Then we went back to the ‘new normal’ yesterday, with strong winds, dark skies, and torrential rain in the late afternoon. I am holding out for a last-ditch summer to appear in September, or it is going to feel like a very long winter.

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Last Monday, we had some drama with one of Ollie’s Claws, and he had to go to the Vet. Most of you will have seen my separate post about that, but for those who missed it, here it is.

Ollie And His Dewclaw

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Otherwise, it was an uneventful week in Beetley, though Beetley Meadows was crowded with visitors to the adventure playground and riverside picnic areas during those three hot days. Besides an increase in littering, the main problem with the popularity of the local area in summer is inconsiderate parking. Though the arriving cars are almost never actually blocking driveways, they are often parked so close to them, that getting our cars out becomes a mission. People don’t think about the residents when they are setting out to enjoy themselves.

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I have no plans for the rest of the month, as September will be very busy. We have two family weddings to attend, one week apart, and that is after our one-week holiday by the coast in Lincolnshire. Fortunately, we have managed to get people to look after Ollie while we are away at the weddings. They are both people he loves and trusts, so that was a relief. Of course, he will be coming with us on our holiday, as he loves to sit on the porch of our cabin and watch the world go by.

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My best wishes to everyone for a happy Sunday, wherever you are.

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September Stuff

~ beetleypete ~ 61 Comments


(Not my photo)

Sunny days and chilly nights, Autumn is here in Beetley.

September is one of my favourite months of the year. A late summer if you are lucky; never too hot, or too humid. A breeze that refreshes, instead of feeling like a blast of hot air, and a strangely nice smell from the plant life beginning to die off.

Dark at 7:30 now, until the clocks go back at the end of October. Foggy mornings, awaiting the sunshine to burn it off, and that ‘long-evening’ feel once you are settled for the night.

Owls hooting, as you drift off to sleep. An avian lullaby.

Thinking of heartier meals too. Casseroles, warming food, cooked long and slow. Relished once the sun has gone down.

Ollie has finally stopped shedding hair, and the ‘holes’ in his fur are less noticeable as it grows back. He spends less time in the river cooling off, and more time investigating his territory. I can gauge the seasons by the habits of my furry best friend.

Acorns to collect and clear away, as well as twigs and leaves. Gutters to clear before the rains come, and more jobs to put off until next month. 🙂

The blogging season gets going again, as those holidaying bloggers return to writing, or perhaps don’t bother anymore. New faces, reliable regulars, and farewell to some old friends who have called it a day.

The Christmas cards will be in the shops soon.

Then it is all over bar the shouting.

Significant Songs (112/113)

~ beetleypete ~ 15 Comments

September/After The Love Has Gone

I rarely post two songs by the same group or solo artist in this series, but today is an exception. By coincidence, I had a draft in post about a song by the group ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’, then I heard the sad news about Maurice White. I decided to delete that one, and combine two of the band’s best-known songs into this delayed tribute.

It was around the end of 1975 when I first heard this band. They assembled a sound that was a fusion of funk, soul, and jazz, with the feel of a big band thrown in for good measure. The vocals were strong, and the harmonies a delight to the ear. The songs were pretty good too, and the huge line-up made for some real stage presence. There were outlandish outfits, and eye-catching album covers, referencing everything from Egyptian motifs, to Modernist graphics. What drew me in, and kept me there, was the dynamic horn section, perfectly accompanying the high voice of Phil Bailey, or the deeper tones of Maurice White. Nobody else ever sounded like EWF, and that sound was always instantly recognisable.

When I got around to buying my first copy of one of their albums, they had already been working for more than five years with some success, though mainly in the USA. By the time the album ‘All ‘N All’ was released in 1977, they were known the world over, and the track ‘Fantasy’ became a huge hit single, with the following year seeing the release of ‘September.’ By 1979, they could do no wrong, and the album that year, ‘I Am’ gave us ‘After The Love Has Gone’, ‘In The Stone’, and ‘Boogie Wonderland’. That last track was and still is a Disco classic, played every day on the radio all around the world, and ‘After The Love Has Gone’ left us one of the great mournful love songs of the age.

They continued their successful career, despite Maurice no longer being able to tour, after contracting Parkinson’s disease, and were still performing as recently as December 2014. On 4th February, two days ago, Maurice White died, aged 74. Thanks for the decades of great music, Maurice.

Favourite months

~ beetleypete ~ 30 Comments

Tomorrow is the first of September, and I always look forward to its arrival. It heralds the end of the summer, and the start of autumn, and is one of my two favourite months, the other being March. This is mainly because March is the month of my birthday, and because it is the end of the winter. I have always enjoyed my birthday. It is personal, unlike Christmas, which is for everyone.

I have always felt that March was a good time to celebrate a birthday. The weather can be surprisingly good sometimes, so it is possible to plan a nice day out, to celebrate. It is far enough away from December, so not caught up in the festive hangover, and equally unaffected by the summer rush for outdoor activities. In England, most places of interest or traditional seaside tourist spots are still closed up, awaiting the season.

This means that trips in March have the feel of delicious isolation, making it all seem even more special. The countryside is just beginning to wake up, after the long winter sleep. Bulb flowers are peeking through the ground, and animals are getting restless, awaiting the time of new births. Birds start to arrive from countries still locked in the depths of winter, and as the month nears its end you feel the promise of spring in the air.

September is the complete opposite. The young animals and birds have long left the safety of their parents, and are making their way in life. The trees and plants stop growing, ready to shed leaves, petals, and seeds. There is also the prospect of a late summer, as if the sun has forgotten it should have left. Warm evenings before the dark returns, the last insects of the year making their final rounds. The children are going back to school, freeing the beaches and other nice places from their shrieking and crying. The tractors have finished on the farms, at least for a while, and the roads are no longer jammed with traffic heading for the coast, or beauty spots inland.

Everything is handed back to the mature and the contemplative. Restaurants and cafes that turned you away during the summer rush now crave your patronage. Shops are full with Christmas stock, so there is no reason to head for shopping centres as they no longer have anything you need. This is the time when I take my holiday, or as I am now retired, so arguably on permanent holiday, when Julie takes her annual holiday.

Starting tomorrow, we have two weeks together, with no foreign trips planned, a chance to explore Norfolk, and possibly other parts of the U.K. During weekdays at least, anywhere we want to go will be free from wandering packs of families, the ear-splitting cries of children, the bellowing of fed up parents, and the congestion of buggies. As an added bonus, it is also too soon for schools to have organised trips, so we will also avoid the chattering snakes of over-excited children, marshalled by earnest teachers.

It is a long time to wait for September. All your friends and colleagues have been away already; back with glowing tans, and tales of beaches and sambuca, or a hot Provencal summer. You don’t mind though, you know it will be worth it. The leaves will be changing colour on the trees, the fields cleared, neat and tidy as a freshly made bed. Time off in September feels stolen, as everyone else settles back into the drudgery after the long summer break.

Your time has just begun.