What is it about the first of October?
I don’t mean Oct. 1 — the premier date of the 10th calendar month. I am speaking more broadly about the first part of the month, the week or so before and after the first day of October. So, I guess my question really is: Why is this particular time on the calendar so crowded with events? What makes it so popular?
I understand it is a personal question. It’s just that I have been so busy these last few weeks. Looking at the month of October in my 2024 calendar as well as October calendars from past years, I see daily squares solid with pencil notations marking obligations and must-do events. As I look back, I am convinced this time of the year always seems to get filled up.
A few of the October calendar notations are for birthdays and anniversaries of various people in my tribe. A few squares are filled with dates and times for church committee meetings and choir practices that mark the end of the usual summer hiatus. I have planned visits with friends. More than a few are Retro Brothers gigs. I guess people plan fall gatherings with music as part of the autumn mix. A any rate, the first week in October is a popular choice.
For the last 52 years, The Methodist Church in Nashville has reserved the first weekend in October for its annual Fall Fare. It is their biggest fundraiser of the year with 100% of the proceeds going to mission work. Last Saturday, Oct. 5, I participated in the music portion of this year’s event.
My Retro Brother Dan volunteers at the Johnson County Interchurch Food Bank. He always offers the musical services of the Retro Brothers to play at the Food Bank’s annual Harvest Walk to raise funds for its mission. This year the Interchurch event was last Sunday, Oct. 6, so my calendar reflected those two October weekend events. Checking my previous calendars, the RBs are always booked for the first weekend of October.
I realize I tend to keep busy, but I wondered if it was just me and my October schedules, or do others notice crowded schedules this time of the year? At the Harvest Walk, I asked a couple of people about it. One person suggested it simply might be because October is such a beautiful a time of the year. Last weekend’s weather was just about as beautiful as fall weather in Indiana gets, so that’s likely part of it.
The September/October period also marks the end/beginning of seasons. I had an interesting conversation with one person who wondered if this tendency to conduct observations or celebrations of the passing from one season to the next was perhaps an inborn animal need, some sort of biological urging to express a last blast of energy as a preparation before the quiet part of the year. It might be similar to bears and other mammals who bulk up before they are driven to hibernate. I’m not sure this theory holds water, but it does make me think.
But maybe it is more than just an individual need for activity. Maybe it is a societal imperative. After all, harvest festivals have been around since agricultural societies began. Any gardener knows this is the time to reap what has been sown as well as prepare the earth for its dormancy period as well as look towards the future. Maybe society has baked busyness into the October season. You know, I’ll bet those early agricultural societies had musicians who were expected to play for the harvest campfire rituals.
I suppose it might be my own busy personal October that has me thinking in terms of natural explanations and universal truths. It probably is just that. But, boy, oh boy, I am starting to think I need a break.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
