Good Autumn Morning

Bah!  I know most people will think I'm really nuts, but autumn is NOT high on my list of seasons.  Yes, I know it has pretty colors, fun activities, great holidays, and - AND....... and this is the worst - cool weather.  I simply don't enjoy cool weather.  Cool weather always leads to cold weather, and cold weather and I are not friends.  We're not even nice to each other.  I refuse to go outside on cold nights.  I wear flannel pajamas beginning in October.  I bundle up in layers and wool in order to stay alive in our house and I keep the thermostat at 76.  And still I freeze.  The thought of that unmentionable post autumn season makes me unhappy.  The sun seems to rise at 10 and set at 2 and it hangs low in the sky.  And it seems to go on f  o  r  e  v  e  r.  But back to autumn.  When I was young, it was the signal of returning to school.  I was always so very excited to go back to school.  It meant new clothes, new shoes, new books, new supplies, new classes, new teachers, new everything.  I reckon it was really kind of like Easter - a re-birth and renewal of life.  At least that was true in the life of a kid.  New beginnings were always fun for me then.  Crap, they're fun now.  Who doesn't enjoy a new beginning?  A nice white piece of paper, waiting for words or paint; a newly cleaned and ironed shirt; a new promise to yourself , a new day; a new friend; new home; new city; new job.  There are many, many beginnings each day in our lives.  One  elementary school year began as usual, with a new room and new teacher.  Usually the same kids were in my class every year.  We had two classes per grade, so we would get mixed and matched every now and then, but because we mostly all lived in the same neighborhood and our mothers were friends, we all knew one another.  This was my 6th grade year, the last year of life in elementary school.  All of us 6th graders were changing and growing in one way or another, some faster than others.  I was growing in the wrong way - up, not out.  I held the ugly distinct honor of being the tallest girl in my class.  When our class photo was taken, I was put on the back row with the tall boys.  At this point in my life, I did not enjoy being around boys.  Ohhhh, the agony and humiliation.  To add to the fun of this age, my family began calling me the charming nickname "Stringbean."   This was undoubtedly the most awkward phase of my life.  One day I was asked to pass out returned work papers in the classroom.  I was going down the rows, passing out the papers, first to last seat, and I got to the very last seat in the very last row, where a boy was sitting at his desk.  As I handed his paper to him, he looked up at me and said, "I love you."  AAACCKK!!!!!!!!  I blurted out, "WELL, I HATE YOU!"  Unfortunately,  the entire classroom and Miss Teacher heard me.  I had to stand in the corner for a while.  Sheesh, HE did the ugly deed, why was I punished??  Somewhere along the way, I learned to like boys and I'm trying to make peace with autumn.  Winter and I will most likely never be friends, but I'm working on that, too.