Final Fall Reminisces

I remember the races. I remember going out too fast in the County Championship my senior year. I was the favorite to win going in and lost the race by starting the race at a pace my father had cautioned me against going. His warning became a prophecy when I was passed at the last hill. That hurt, and still twinges a bit.

I always flamed out at the end of the season. Started great, ended poorly. That’s the way three seasons went. Oh well. That’s the past, right?

I remember papers and Mrs. Beaulieau’s English classes and the excitement of upcoming basketball seasons. I remember going to the gym at the University of Maine at Machias to play basketball and hang out with the men’s basketball team as best I could. How I wanted to be one of them. Over time, I forged many friendships with them, got to know them personally, lost to them often in one-on-one, and even won a few. Sweet days, those.

Fall was a time of drama, acting in plays. I remember late nights at UMM working on the college’s production of “Oliver Twist.” I won the role of Oliver, and had a ball in the role. Sold-out performances in the Performing Arts Center, one of my first crushes, the after-show cast party. Singing “Where is Love” and afterwards finding the power to make my sister and mother cry on the spot at its singing. I loved acting.

This, and more, is fall. A bustling season, an exciting season, a time of much change. Pleasant, bittersweet, exciting. Gone now, but remembered.