Commentary

Here comes September, oh happy, happy day

By Dale Bryant

The dog days of summer arrived unheralded, but not unexpected. It happens every year at the same time. First, the in-basket begins to look suspiciously low. Soon, the most local news in the pile is a press release from a New York publisher promoting a motivational book by a mother of six from Ohio, an invitation to a fashion show in San Francisco and the always dependable listing of road closures in the Fresno area.

It's not easy putting out a community newspaper in a community that's gone on vacation.

Some may be clinging to these last days of summer, but in the offices of the Saratoga News, we are anticipating September with the enthusiasm of a child on Christmas Eve.

Youngsters may not be happy that school will soon be in session, but to our school reporter, the first ring of that school bell will be music to her ears.

Undoubtedly, some local citizens are hoping this year's city council candidates will observe environmental restraint and keep their tacky campaign signs out of the campaign. We say bring on those red and green and blue signs with their stars and exclamation points. And with them the lusty sound of campaign speeches and neighbors arguing over the back fence about which candidate would serve the community best.

August is a time for sitting around the back yard, for leaving town, for floating around on a river with a fishing pole hung over the side of a boat. In August, television is filled with reruns, and the movies are aimed at 12-year-old boys.

September brings a new community concert season, school carnivals, Chamber of Commerce mixers, movies aimed at grown-ups and a brand new calendar of social activities and fundraisers.

In poetry and song, September has melancholy connotations. The autumn of my life and all that.

Well, we've seen August, and we've seen September, and from where we sit--in that lonely newspaper office where the phone has barely rung for a month--there's nothing like September.

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Dale Bryant is the editor of the Saratoga News

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