If it weren’t for a head cold that has me feeling momentarily dour and ornery, I’d be in a pretty fine mood. You see, September rolled in yesterday, and there’s a simple truth about this transitional month- it’s far more summer than it is fall. First, I must give credit where credit is due, August, you were spectacular. If September can mirror August, then we’re in for a real treat. The reality of life at Lake Geneva is that September is the best month of the year to be here. When I say best, I really, honestly, mean the absolute best. Sure yesterday wasn’t that great, but September just had a few kinks to work out before it will hopefully- no, almost assuredly, become the best month of our dwindling year.
There’s much to like about September, and in particular there’s much to like about a Lake Geneva September. First off, the traveling hoards that tend to clog up some key streets on key weekends will largely be absent after Labor Day. They’ll return for trips to Kilwins and brief walks down the Lake Geneva lakefront, but they’ll be largely absent after this weekend. That’s not to say that I don’t love day trippers, as day trippers are essential for our local economy, but it is to say that day trippers don’t really mean much to my own business. Once the crowds are thinned and kids are back in school, we still have a solid month of summer left, and for those of us lucky and wise enough to spend as many of those days at Lake Geneva, a quiet lake that you’d barely recognize is ours to enjoy.
October is another favorite month, but by October the water starts to cool beyond comfortable swimming levels, and the air has a hint of seriousness in it. October dresses in jeans and tweed jackets with leather elbow patches. October wears dark rimmed glasses, even though we all know he doesn’t need them. Sure September might wear a light jacket or sweater when the evening chill makes her t-shirt a little too light, but September almost always wears sandals and a swimsuit. At least that’s what I see her wearing when she’s in Lake Geneva. Walking the streets of town on cool mornings, content to do a little shopping and perhaps grab lunch. But come midday she’s usually down at the lake, sunning on a boat or a white pier, and with water temperatures that will likely hover above 72 degrees through the end of the month, she tends to swim more than you’d think.
There will be trips to the orchard (Royal Oak Farm- still the best orchard you’ve never been to), and first days of school for my children. Speaking of my children; have some adjusting to do. After a summer spent swimming or fishing, literally, without exaggeration, every single day usually by 10 AM, the swimming and fishing will have to be put off until at least 3 PM now. From my desk, I can squint and see my son Thomas. Sitting in class. His head filled with a dizzying array of everything but school, staring out an open window, considering his own width as it relates to the cracked window. Feeling like a caged animal, or like those big fish in those small Bass Pro Shops aquariums. His feet tapping incessantly. His eyes darting from teacher to clock and back to the window. Contemplating his release. Wishing he could tell time a little better in order to estimate the exact moment he makes bail and can run down the school sidewalk and to the car, where he’ll beg his mother to take him swimming, or fishing, or if he can find that spear that we fashioned out of a corn stalk last weekend, both.
I pity those who think summer ends this weekend. Those summer haters will soon realize the folly of their mistake, and they’ll pay for it in rapidly fading tans. For those of us at Lake Geneva, we’ll enjoy this month like no other month on the calendar. We’ll embrace September and understand that summer is far from over. Perhaps we’ll continue to wear white as well, further proving our faith in a summer that is no where near fading. If you can find the time, come to Lake Geneva this month. Ask me for a boat ride. Or find a nice lakefront hotel and spend a night or a week there. Just don’t forget about September, a month that sounds like fall but plays like summer. See you at the lake.