September’s best quality

For much of the nation, Labor Day and the beginning of September mark the end of summer, but in south Louisiana it would be wishful thinking to believe that the heat and humidity that have kept our air conditioners working overtime will disappear overnight. We’ve seen too many Septembers when afternoon temperatures have stayed in the upper 80s and lower 90s all month long.
Still, something promising is going on. Our nights are beginning to get a little cooler and it is a lot more comfortable when you walk outside in the morning. The days are getting shorter, and that means stressed plants and pets and people have a little bit longer to recuperate even from a hot and muggy day.
If you read the gardening books, the word “fall” commonly conjures up images of harvest, falling leaves, the end of the growing season and the beginning of dormancy in the garden. But in south Louisiana, this is not a time when we begin to wind everything down; it gives enough reprieve from summer’s stifling heat to get back into the yard and garden and try to make amends for all that we neglected in August. Labor Day for lots of folks means it’s time to plant a fall garden.
We generally do see a gradual shift to milder weather during September, but the cool spells will be mixed among hot summer-like days.
September’s sneaky that way. This month offers the best of two worlds, but never tells us which to expect. It tempts us with pleasant thoughts of autumn, but quick as a quilt can be whisked from the closet, sneaky September will bear down to let us know that summer lingers yet.
And September can sometimes turn downright mean; it is one of the busiest months of the hurricane season.
Still, it has its charms. It is a busy month in the harvest season, and also a month filled with festivals that celebrate the huge diversity of things we can grow and catch and cook. This has been National Rice Month since Congress and the President said so in 1991, but our fairs also celebrate everything from alligators to zydeco.
And we’re not the only ones who will party over just about anything this month. September’s Bourbon Month and it has a Mustache Day, National Tie Week, and Be Late for Something Day. There’s a National Spanish Green Olive Week, National Dog Week and National Next Door Neighbor Week.
Football season begins in September, when Hometown High battles for bragging rights against Next Door Prep, when Tiger stadium fills on Saturday with a crowd bigger than the population of many of our communities and Ragin’ Cajun fans rejoice, finally, over winning teams, when folks get on their knees on Sunday to pray for the continued good health of Drew Brees.
September may be my favorite month. The fairs and festivals and cooler mornings are part of the reason. But I suspect that it may simply be that it is the month that comes after August.
Poets have called August things like “ripe summer’s queen” and “fairest of the months,” but most of them have never lived in south Louisiana. We know that August is a month just to be abided and that, after it, September could be just about anything and still be welcomed.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, Cajuns and Other Characters, is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.