September Song

Listen while you read:  Willie Nelson's version

Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November . . . 
And these few precious days I'll spend with you
The precious days I'll spend with you

~  Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson (1938)

Well, today I am as melancholy as this song. But not quite as old . . . nearly 80 years! Despite the many, many artists who have recorded it, I chose Willie Nelson's version from 1978's Stardust album. Most recently, Willie's son Lukas has been performing it, sometimes with his band, Promise of the Real, and sometimes with Neil Young. I couldn't find a video that I liked of Lukas singing it (crowd noises, etc.), but he sounds very much like his dad.

Clearly, the song is metaphor for aging, and given that I am in the September (or maybe October) of my life, I can get pretty choked up listening to it. On a more literal note, however, I will be returning to New Jersey this evening to spend another month or so enjoying autumn's beauty. The weather here in Colorado has still been summerlike; the high today will be near 90 degrees. But the leaves are turning back East, and I will have to begin those chores that must be done at the end of summer: winterizing the gardens, taking in porch furniture, planting garlic, taking out screens and locking windows. While autumn is truly beautiful back home, I still find it hard to say goodbye to summer.

And I find it hard to say goodbye to my kids. Let me rephrase that: I find it hard to say "so long" to my kids. (My grandmother taught me to never say "goodbye." "So long" means you will see each other again.) I will say so long to Sam when he drops me off at the airport later this afternoon, and my eyes are watering just thinking about it. The problem is that I don't know when I will see him again. Maybe Thanksgiving, but doubtful. Maybe Christmas, but where? If I had a target date to focus on, I would handle the separation much better.

I know that once I fall back into my routines, I will adjust to this. But today, my melancholia is real.