Every moment outside when summer ends is a gift. I hang on tight. I listen to the crickets. I often think of E.B. White when he wrote “Charlotte’s Web.” He knew how precious those last days of summer are. He payed attention.
Tonight was one of those last summer nights.
Baseball was on the radio. Crickets were chirping. The air was still and warm. The sky was an art show. The world was whispering and smiling as it darkened. It was a wonder.
Somehow I know E.B. White felt the same way on a late summer evening.
When something ends, there is a new beginning. Summer is ending, yet children start school next week, and I start reading aloud “Charlotte’s Web” that very same day. Yes, on ‘day one’. Life is good.
~Every ending is really just a new beginning.~
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
Lovely words and yes-
Thank you, Beth! 🥰
How wonderful, enjoy! (As I know you, and the children, will.)
I still get butterflies in my stomach. 🙂
That’s a good sign, Jennie. The excitement of a new year with new children – a lot of new learning to occur.
Yes, indeed! 😀
💖 Enjoy!
Good to see you enjoying that summer evening. Unfortunately, there has been no summer in Beetley in 2021. August was the worst; cool, dull, and cloudy for the whole month. It is 16C maximum with a chilly breeze here today, and I had to put lights on to prepare breakfast. On Saturday we go away for a short holiday, and I am really hoping for a little brightness to shake the gloom away.
Best wishes, Pete.
That’s a shame, Pete. I really hope you have good weather on your vacation. It’s always funny that you call a vacation a holiday. Here, a holiday is a designated date, like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Best to you, and fingers crossed for better weather.
Love this post. Usually people are sad for endings but you’re right, we have to know that endings also signify new beginnings. 🙏😊
They really are. Thank you, Jen! I’m glad you enjoyed this.
Excellent
Thank you.
The anticipation of each new beginning is intoxicating. The past is never lost if it is remembered.
Pam, I just love everything you have to say. I often think you’re a combination of Ronald Dahl and Einstein.
Oh my word! You are too kind.
It’s all true, Pam.
How did the summer go so fast? I can see you are excited about a new school year. All those eager faces drinking in the words of Charlottes Web.
This was the fastest summer ever! Since Covid and vaccinations, we have finally visited with our grandchildren. Our house has been a swinging door of company and family. It has been wonderful, even though there hasn’t been any down time. Happy times and a whoosh of summer gone by. I am always excited about the new year, because no matter what happens, “Charlotte’s Web” will be there. That’s powerful.
I was having the same end-of-summer experience last night, listening to the crickets through my open study windows, watching the sun set through the trees, and thinking of the promise of a new beginning the upcoming season brings. Synchronicity!
I’m so glad! Isn’t it just wonderful to hear crickets and watch sunsets at the end of summer? Yes, the promises of a new beginning and more, are what keep us excited and moving forward. Definitely synchronicity!!
Yes, it is wonderful. My thought was how glad I was to be alive in that moment.
Yes, indeed!
Lovely to see your swimming pool and here the crickets. It doesn’t seem like we had a summer here, like Pete I’m on the east side of England, it was a poor show.
Thank you, FR. No summer on your side of the ‘pond’ had to be disappointing.
Ah, such fine poetry from E.B.White and you, Jennie. Gives me a boost into the end of summer.
I love that your description of a fine autumn night includes, actually starts out with, listening to a baseball game on the radio.
I felt the same way, Don. Thank you! There’s nothing better than baseball on the radio. It took me till my 50’s to discover that. Better late than never.
And here we go again, setting another batch of youngsters on the right path in life. We never know where their individual paths will lead but at least you are pointing them in the right direction.
I hope I have a good pointer, maybe with lots of glitter! 🙂
I know you do!
Lovely words Jennie 💜
Thank you, Ritu! 🥰
Baseball on the radio brings back many good memories. My best to you and the children.
I’m glad it gives you good memories, Dan. Many thanks!
All is peaceful, Jennie. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, John.
Thank you for sharing your ‘good life’ with us all.
😉
My pleasure, Laura! 🥰
I love how you expressed your love of summer and the sadness at the end of it. Life keeps teaching us that change is inevitable.
Thank you, Marlene. Life really keeps teaching us. I dearly love summer. The older I get the less I like change, yet I keep reminding myself that change is just a new beginning.
Lots of great memories. I used to read Charlotte’s Web every year—no matter what grade I taught. The kids were always engaged. Listening to baseball on the radio—good memories of that too. Something more from days gone by. It took talent to paint the action in real-time. I remember listening to Jack Buck on KMOX who was a long-time broadcaster for the Cardinals. His son, Joe, does baseball and football games now. Your audio perfectly captured the mood of a summer night with the crickets doing their thing.
You know that feeling with baseball on the radio and crickets chirping on a summer evening. It’s such a warm, wonderful moment. I’m glad my audio captured it.
I love your Jack Buck memory. Here’s my cross to bear: riding in the car on road trips as a child, and whining when my dad wanted to hear the Cincinnati Reds on the radio. He begged me and my sister to go to a game. I refused, but my sister liked it and went to the games with our dad. We finally got together this summer since Covid and talked about this. I told her how I had finally fallen in love with baseball on the radio. We smiled! Oh, how I wish I had listened to baseball back then and gone to a Reds game with my dad. I could have seen ‘Charlie Hustle’ (Pete Rose) and spent close time with my dad.
I’m so glad to hear you read Charlotte’s Web to all your grades. Yes, it’s that good, and children always love it. Think of me reading the book on Tuesday!
I will, Jennie. Have a great school year! Those kids are lucky to have you as their teacher.
Thanks so much, Pete. 🙂
Beautiful post Jennie. I miss teaching the most at this time of year, though the pleasures of retirement are beginning to sink in, after eight years. 🙂 An online book platform, Readeo, has made it easy to read with my grandchild from a distance. Enjoy the new crop of lucky children you are meeting!
Thank you so much, Tammy. Keep reading with your grandchild!
that looks like the perfect summer evening; I am already looking forward to next summer…
Nice post
Thank you.
Pingback: The End, and Also The Beginning – kania matin
Thank you.
This is nice
Thank you.
I have to tell what happened on Tuesday. We were at Baby Girl’s house visiting them and the boys and I had been doing the school drop off and pick up. On Tuesday #1 Grandson and I got in the house from school where he promptly dropped his backpack and he hopped/ran to his mom and she asked what happened in school today? He replied doing his happy dance that he got to pick two books from the class library and he just knows we’re going to love his picks. The first book is one all about Sharks, and the second one is Mr. Popper’s Penguins! I thought Jennie would be thrilled to know he still likes this book too! 😀 He’ll be reading it on his own for the first time. 3rd grade is going to be filled with lots of firsts I think. 😍
Well, if this story doesn’t make my day! Thank you for telling me, Deborah. The happy dance speaks volumes about how he likes books and reading. He sure picked out a winner in “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”. I’m so excited he will be reading the book on his own, for the first time!!
Third grade is the biggie, with plenty of firsts. Typically the children who struggle are the poor readers, because reading and language are the foundation. #1 Grandson has this nailed. Has he read “The Wild Robot”? Does he like the Deckawoo Drive series by Kate DiCamillo? For reading aloud to him (not his own reading) “Bob” and “Wishtree” are the best. I read these to my library group.
Thanks so much, Deborah!
The Wild Robot! We’re reading that one ever so slowly. We just ended on Monday at the chapter where Roz made a deal with the Beavers for trees. They’ll make her and the gosling a house. Now, we’re curious as to how the how will look and will the gosling survive and find a goose family or will Roz be it’s mum forever? 😍
I’ll ask him if he has read or been read the Deckawoo series. I am not familiar with it. Wishtree is a great book we both enjoyed it. I love your book recommendation. 🤩
Thanks so much, Deborah! I know exactly where you are in the book!! It gets better and better. I won’t tell you what happens and spoil it for you. And, there is a sequel! So, you have lots of good reading ahead.
If he has read the popular Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo when he was younger (Mercy is a pig), the Deckawoo Drive series is the next level up. Each book is about one of the characters (neighbors).
Grateful for endings and new beginnings… ❤ xo
Indeed! Thank you, Bette. 🥰
Have a sensational new school year, Jennie! 😍😘
😍
A lovely post, Jennie, and a lovely book. All the best for the start of the new school year.
Thank you, Robbie. It has been a very challenging week, and I haven’t even had a minute to read fellow bloggers’ posts. Sigh!
Yes, Jennie. I’m reading Charlotte’s Web to my children. It’s captured so well. In Australia we are the opposite, slowly shedding winter’s chill and emerging into the warmth of Spring.
A perfect time of the year to read Charlotte’s Web! Best to you, Lisa.
Pingback: The End, and Also The Beginning – MobsterTiger
Thank you.
Lovely, Jennie. Peaceful yet hopeful. I’m reminded of that Closing Time song. Hugs on the wing.
Thank you, Teagan!
A beautiful post, Jennie. I’m glad you took the time to reflect on another ending and beginning, and to share a lovely evening. 🙂
Thank you, Diana. I feel like the outside is paradise and therapy. Make sense?
Absolutely. It’s our body and spirit’s natural environment more so than inside a building.
Well said!
Happy new school year Jennie. May it be safe and fun. ❤
Thank you, Debby. 🙂
What a beautiful post.
Thank you!
Good thoughtful words. Ending one with beginning of other.
Loved it.
Thank you.