I was sitting there casually talking to my doctor today when I realized it was September. I mean, that should be a totally unremarkable realization – almost a joke, really – but when I thought about it, it came to me how odd it really felt.
Where have we been this year? Where were we at this time last year? The year before?
The past was all pretty much on schedule. It’s just that now those things by which we’ve measured it aren’t there anymore. Summer vacation for the kids isn’t ending right now. The NFL preseason didn’t just wrap up this past weekend. The pennant races aren’t starting to heat up (you could say they actually started the first day of the season…in July).
And the NBA didn’t end its season three months ago. It’s the playoffs for crying out loud.
Of course, it’s not the same. But even more so.
Here in Korea, July was cooler than June. We’re up to our seventh (give or take) typhoon coming through tonight with another close behind. Last year was dry. This year it rained for about 50 days straight. Good for the rice. Bad for the fruit.
I’m not calling it a loss though. If you’ve been paying attention, I’ve posted something on this blog every day since June 29th. That’s different. I’m learning and I’m exploring as I write. There are plenty of times I don’t think it’s very good. There are even times I know I’m mailing it in. But there are still times, and that’s something to be happy about. And maybe after a year of this I’ll get serious.
But even more, I’m finding different things. Listening to more voices. Asking more questions. Reading new people. It’s all very interesting. And I can’t say it isn’t tiring sometimes, but it is kind of fun when I think about it. Maybe that’s why I hope for feedback – I want to engage people on this stuff. Kind of hard to do when you’ve dumped Facebook (but I’m still far better for it). Who knows though – I may emerge from this year as some kind of savant. Maybe when I die they’ll discover I’ve written the great American novel or something. Will I? Have I? You’ll have to wait on that one…
And it’s September.