Rituals

There’s something really comforting and grounding about daily rituals … habits that become so second nature that life falls into a comfortable rhythm just like an old shoe. (Then again, spontaneity can be wickedly good for the soul, but that’s a different topic altogether and one best left for another day). Today I’m focusing on rituals, because today at The Lodge our son Josh and I are getting ready for the first day of school, which is quickly approaching. It brings back memories of the First Day of School rituals from my childhood. When I was younger, my mother and grandmother would take me shopping to get school clothes and new shoes, and all those lovely school supplies!! Strange kid that I was, I loved getting notebooks, pens and paper. As a writer, my favorite stores of all, even back then, were the old Stationery stores, and there were TWO of them on the same block in downtown Middletown, NY: Robinson & Cunningham and Hanford & Horton. (I still remember their names). Sadly, I’d be surprised if any Stationers in the whole state still survive today. Our old fashioned Stationers dated from the 1880’s when they originally opened shop, and probably still contained some of their original inventory. (What I wouldn’t give for a tour of their back store rooms today!). As a ‘browser’ in those days, I would be in my glory there, leafing through papers of every description, the fountain pens and lead pencils, the earthy smell of leather bound journals, sterling silver letter openers and beautiful hand-bound dictionaries. Purchases were wrapped in brown paper and tied with string; such lovely memories from a totally by-gone era. I was in heaven, proof that even then, I was a bit of an oddball compared to your typical fourth grader! After having my own children, we never had the urgency as a homeschool family to perpetuate this rite of passage from one grade to another, by doing the typical “back to school” shopping thing. (A fact that was pointed out to me by a New York Times reporter who did a big homeschool story on our family). In a way she was right, in the same way Meg Ryan was right in the movie, “You’ve Got Mail” when she waxed poetic, saying, “Don’t you just love New York in the fall? Bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils…” I knew exactly what both Meg and the reporter were talking about, and from that moment forward I always made sure that my kids were in on The Ritual. Today it is Josh’s turn. He’s about to turn 14 and is about as tall as a skyscraper now, although his voice has just plunged down into the basement. The two of us just had our little ritual of buying new sneakers, a scene right from Ray Bradbury’s novel “Dandelion Wine”. Josh’s feet have inexplicably expanded to a Men’s 10 ½. Yikes. Alas, with no Stationers to be found these days our next stop was Staples, where we made short order of the School Supplies list. Now we’re back at The Lodge, getting psyched for the First Day of School. Another Ritual richly reveled in!