Summer's Denouement

With its final breath, summer conjures up the zephyr of autumn. One act closes, and the next begins.

Astronomically summer ends with the autumnal equinox. Meteorologically it ends on August 31. Traditionally it ends on Labor Day. No matter which point you arbitrarily choose, September is a month of seasonal transition.

The name comes from the Latin word for seven. The seventh month of the Julian calendar became the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar. For US history buffs, September marks the date of the Mayflower departing England , the signing of our oft-neglected Constitution and the penning of The Star Spangled Banner following the siege of Ft. McHenry.

Contrived celebrations clutter the month. Outre observances include Mold Awareness Month, Better Breakfast Month and National Pediculosis Month (for the less pedantic that's head lice- technically pediculosis capitis). If all this spins your head, distracts you, or causes you to lose focus, it's also Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month. Try not to become churlish and uncivil about it, though, as September is National Courtesy Month.

Counterintuitively, as beer aficionados know, Oktoberfest begins in September. The mayor of Munich opens the first keg proclaiming, "O'zapht is" - "It's tapped." A tidbit of calendar trivia: December aways begins on the same day of the week as September. These months are separated by 91 days (a multiple of 7). - as ever BB

"Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone; all her lovely companions are faded and gone." - Sir Thomas More