Summer has been rolling along nicely here in Michigan. The temperatures have been a bit up and down, but for this state that is normal. For the most part though it was summer weather, summer wear — flip flops, shorts, tank tops, and sunblock.
Then it became the last week of August. The temperature turned cooler, people were in a variety of clothing styles, an indication they weren’t quite sure what the weather was going to dole out and were making their best guess. You would see someone in shorts, then someone in pants, a tank top then a sweatshirt, sandals then boots. Why? Because even though it wasn’t “cold” it felt that way to some.
Does nature know kids are going back to school and that temperatures must drop to get children in the mood for school? Is this a system of reminding parents that if they haven’t purchased that exhaustive list of school supplies they need to handle it now? How did the school schedule get established in the September to June rotation so that children are attending during the coldest months of the season?
I have learned that our traditional September to June school schedule was established at a time when the United States was a farm-based society and children had to help with spring planting and fall harvesting of crops. The September to June schedule with three months off in the summer best suited the needs of children being able to help in the fields during the main production period with as little interference as possible in their education.
Even though we are no longer a farm-based society and industrialization has ended the time of children needing to be taken out of school to help with farm duties, the schedule has held pretty close to the traditional rotation for decades. 
A number of states have tried to increase the hours of a school day, lengthen the period of time that students attend, and some have attempted a year-round school schedule. What many places have found is that increasing the number of hours a student attends also increases operating costs for the school district and many can not afford the increase.
The level of learning, length of time a student spends in school, methods for teaching, and every other aspect of education in this country is constantly being evaluated and changes made. The length of the school year is normally determined by a specific number of days or hours of instruction. One hundred eighty days (180) is the minimum required by many states, five states require more than 180 days, and five states require less than 175 days. Here in Michigan students are required to attend a minimum 180 days.
So what this all means is that it is now September and for the next 9-10 months there are certain times of day when we may be delayed by a school bus. We will see children carrying backpacks loaded down with books, lunches, and a number of other necessities for school. The rotation of school sports, PTO meetings, parent-teacher conferences, homework, report cards, and school breaks is now in session. Whether nature knows it or not, the school year has begun.
I will admit it was hard. However forcing myself to get out and do things has been beneficial. I am more physically active, which increases metabolism and energy. I discovered I am happier by being once again out and about partaking in different activities. The result is that I am more productive than I was when spending the entire weekend at home. Why? Because I have decompressed my brain so I am more relaxed, my energy level has increased, and therefore I am more productive.
After reading that title you are probably going huh? If you think about it you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Murphy’s Law — if anything can go wrong it will. Comedy — finding the humor in anything and everything. Drama — something serious and/or with conflict. Put those altogether and what do you have? My life this past week.
We would sit on the porch playing jacks. At one time I was able to handle pick-ups of 20 jacks at a time. We played a lot. Do kids play jacks anymore? Are they even available to purchase? Ours were tiny metal jacks with a small red ball. What about hula hoops and pogo sticks? With a swing of the hips your hula hoop could be forced up to the neck or down to the knees and back to the waste. Regular jump rope, Chinese jump rope, and hop scotch kept us busy.
Back then most people did not have air conditioning. Windows were open, fans were used. One strong childhood summer memory does not involve me but my father. He would mow the lawn and then afterward watch the ball game on TV. One of my favorite scents and sounds of summer is the combination of fresh mowed grass and a baseball ball game on the TV or radio.
Murphy’s Law #8: It has been a crazy couple of weeks at work. Friday was like a triple Monday. Throughout the week things had come up that took priority and pushed other things back. I ended the week feeling burned out and more buried then when the week began.
When you are born a lover of the written word it never goes away, it just transitions over time. Writing and literature go hand-in-hand. My high school classes were filled with literature…classes in modern short stories, mysteries, American literature, Advanced Grammar and Composition, and more. When I went back to college in 2010 one of my favorite classes was public speaking because I was writing whatever I chose to talk about. It was fun!
I write in many formats. I titled this blog Life is a Melting Pot because my life is a jumble of various activities and I like to write about whatever strikes me at the moment. This blog is not the only regular writing I do. For the past eight years I have held the position of newsletter editor of Bluewater Family Backgrounds, a publication of the St. Clair County Family History Group. As the editor I gather content and put together the entire newsletter, writing some articles that go into it. I have been writing a column called “Who AM I?” for the past five and one-half years for The Lakeshore Guardian, and local free publication. The column is on genealogy. I am in my fourth year as an opinion columnist for our local newspaper, The Times Herald. I select my topics and how often I write a column, frequently selecting topics that can be a bit controversial. Finally, my daytime job is that of Paralegal in which I spend my days doing legal writing. All of the areas in which I write are slightly different and I enjoy each one.
I belong to a Freelance Writer’s Group and at the meetings I see a variety of people with a wide range of interests. The group includes people who write children’s stories, adult novels, travel columns, science fiction, non-fiction, memoir, and more. We all have one thing in common…we love to write! Writers are like any other type of artist, they are imaginative, creative, passionate about their art, well-read, self-promoters and self-starters. Writing is something you do solo; you have to be motivated to write or you will never succeed. Writers love words, language, and people watching. Everything is a potential story or scene. If you spend much time with a writer you may find yourself popping up in their stories, blogs, or columns. You may not be there in name, but you will likely recognize a scene in which you have lived.
I also decided that rather than have New Year’s Resolutions I am going to have monthly goals. I will re-set my goals each month, and they can be repeating goals or things that are new. What this does is provides short-term focus, mini accomplishments and the ability to re-evaluate the goals on a monthly basis to assist with motivation. 
--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 