The leaves are changing early this year. It's funny though, the weather in Michigan. September has just begun, the leaves are already half transformed to those brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows of autum, yet it is 75 degrees out. As I lay here looking out of my dorm room window, I realize that this fall will be different. The leaves will make piles, and instead of riding my BMX bike through them ruining the neatly raked piles, I will be walking across campus passing them silently on my way to class. My friends and I used to gather our neighbors leaves with ours to make one large pile to hide in. When my dad would come home, he would hear us giggling. And as we were trying not to make a peep, he would stick the leaf blower into the pile and turn it on. My dad calls on the phone now, but only for a few minutes. Halloween is coming around soon too. Amongst the studying I'm sure there will be parties to go to. Halloween is now only an excuse to skip homework for one night. The devilish night will no longer inspire a precious childhood memory. I remember when I wore my superman costume three years in a row. My parents would always follow us in the car.

Winter was a time to play inside. A rocking horse Christmas gift from my parents was one of my sweetest childhood memories. I had a cowboy hat and boots to go with it. This Christmas I don't know where I'll be.

Fall has arrived early this year. Yet, instead of playing in innocence and freedom, adulthood has heavily set in, slowing my paces, and eating my time. Playing now is tainted with guilt, and I strain to keep the freedom of a child. Memories will hold, but being at college, those playfull childhood years are sadly deminishing.

submitted by Ian Erickson
Ann Arbor, Michigan USA
September 1997