Posted by Anne

Can you feel it?  Fall is officially in the air.  And Elizabeth’s post yesterday made me all the more giddy for all-things-Autumn:  pumpkins, cider, rich malty beer, and…school supplies!  Don’t lie.  I know there are other like-minded souls out there.  You notice when the first leaves change color.  You see the ads on TV for brightly-colored backpacks.  You see the news stories about H1N1 vaccines.  (Okay, maybe that last one is a downer, but you get the idea.)  School is officially back in session!!      

I must admit…even when I was a kid, I loved those three little words:  “Back to School”.  Like the nerdy bookworm I’ve always been, I never failed to finish my summer reading list.  I loved my teachers.  I loved planning my “first day of school outfit”.  I loved discovering which friends (or foes) would be in my class that year.  And I loved, well, learning.  But most of all, I loved shopping for school supplies. 

Oh yeah, you know you had one.

I’ve already revealed my slightly obnoxious penchant for lists, and the annual “school supply list” has always been my favorite.  As a kid, this was serious business.  I mean, what would happen if my crayon box only included basic colors?  What if my folders and notebooks weren’t properly color-coordinated?  And worst of all, what if someone else already had the same Trapper Keeper.  The horror!

Of course, as life moved on and classes became harder, my school supplies had to change.  Crayons gave way to mechanical pencils and hi-lighters.  Wide-ruled-notebooks had to move aside for college-ruled.  (This is a big step.)  And cheerful chalk-written announcements were erased in favor of dense syllabi and impossibly long reading schedules. 

But no matter how difficult school became, or how stressed I knew I would become, there was always something about that “First Day of School”.  And I think I can sum it up in one little word.  Possibility.  You see, on the first day of school, your classes just might be the best you’ve ever taken.  On the first day of school, you just might look prettier than all the other girls.  On the first day of school, that boy from calculus might learn your name.  On the first day of school, you might discover your passion.

And those were the thoughts swimming through my brain every year, as I laid my school supplies out in neat piles on the dining room table.  And those were the hopes drifting through my daydreams as I made spreadsheets of my class schedule. The first day of school is all about the opportunity for change, and all about beginnings. 

So in the spirit of the season, I will end with a list!  Nobody creates a school-supply list for me anymore, so I’ll have to make my own. 

School Supplies, 2009-2010:  A Year of Possibilities

• A box of legal pads for all the letters I will write.
• Pens that actually work, and don’t cause me to throw them down in frustration
• Healthy snacks for the office, to avoid the evils of the afternoon latte (even if it’s non-fat)
• A new coffee mug for my desk.  Not sure why.  Just tired of mine.
• A grown-up mechanical pencil. You know, for the whole “life in pencil” thing.
• A 6-pack of Pumpkin beer from Dogfishhead Brewery.  Don’t worry…it stays at home.
• A book.  Any book I want, that I would usually not buy, because there are already too many on my “to read” shelf. 
• Erasers.  Lots and lots of erasers.  I’m embracing change.

Now go ahead.  Make your school supply list.  And don’t forget the erasers.