Septembers Past

Now that September is here, if you're a Flatted Fifth Contributor, why not Post an Entry about Septembers past? If you're not a Contributor, scroll down the sidebar on the right and click the "Register" button. It's pretty easy!

I like taking vacations in late September and early October. If you're going to New England, that's the best time to enjoy fall colors. September is also a great time to visit our National Parks, such as the Great Smoky Mountains, because there are fewer visitors than in the summer months now that school is back in session.

I remember one September when my former wife and I visited the Smokies and then drove up Skyline Drive. What a magnificent journey! Another time we drove the backroads of New Hampshire and Vermont, a great way to see those states.

Some visitors even take along rice paper to trace tombstone engravings. Many tombstones are for people who lived and died in the 18th and 17th centuries. The first thing you notice is how young people were when they died. Not many people lived past the age of 40. The second thing you notice is how many children died as infants or before they reached the age of ten.

One of my favorite places to visit is Saxons River in southern Vermont, just west of the Connecticut River. There is a cemetery next to the Rockingham Meeting House. As you look at the tombstones, your initial sense of morbidity gives way to a strong realization that each tombstone signifies someone who lived long ago. Think about them; pray for them.

Another place I like to visit in September is Wisconsin. As a boy growing up just outside Chicago, my parents and I spent many summer weekends in Twin Lakes, just north of the Illinois border, about 10 miles east of Lake Geneva. I loved to go swimming, spending all morning and all afternoon in the water.

Sometimes we would drive to Wisconsin Dells for the weekend. We always went to see the Indian musical in the evenings at Stand Rock, where the highlight of the evening was the singing of Indian Love Call.

Door County was my favorite place in Wisconsin, but not because of its beauty or anything like that. Not at all. Door County was home to my favorite diner, a small restaurant with a triple u-shaped counter. Lionel trains ran around the counter delivering orders! To a boy of the 1940s and 1950s, that was so cool!

What about you? What do you like best about September? I bet you have some wonderful memories, too! Why not write about it for The Flatted Fifth! Let's hear from you!