World changes along with seasons

Our lives changed recently. And it’s because of two small words. School started. This happens every year, and we look forward to it with gleeful anticipation. This event is heralded everywhere. We see its announcement in the windows of Sears, J.C. Penney’s, Office Max, and clothing and office supply stores. Back-to- school sale!

This year the common theme for outfitting the youth was choice. The hot trends for boys were a choice of the rock ‘n’ roll look, the vintage casual look, the sporty boy look or the preppy look. The girls had the same choice of styles but with the addition of the boutique princess look.

Going back to school also means there is a new toy. Last year Tamagotchis were popular. And they are again this year. These small electronic pets are v3’s. Meaning, I think, that this is version three. These demanding simulated little pets have to be fed, cleaned up after, and adored or they will die. They were created to simulate the proper care and feeding of a pet.

Now several generations of pets can be raised in one Tamagotchi, and the game can be played over and over. Friends using the new Tamagotchi Connection have infrared capabilities and can communicate with one another. Now that’s a scary thought in a classroom.

How annoying for a teacher to have to listen to the constant beeping of Tamagotchis during class time. (Every time the pet needs to be fed, cleaned or loved, it beeps.) I was thinking of a teacher seeing their student’s eyes light up, as if they have finally understood the concept being taught, only to have the student pull out a toy and focus on it.

Last year I had a student stop a piano lesson I was giving her several times so she could feed her pet. The funny thing is the concern she, as well as I, felt for those tiny pixels.

The sun setting earlier is another change, and with this change, the weather gets cooler, and the nights start to be truly cold. In the early morning hours before I leave for work, I see that the car windows have thin layers of white frost or dew on them.

Another change I have seen is the people conducting the perpetual garage sales this summer finally cleared out their garages in favor of parking at least one of their cars inside. (Actually that was me.)

And the resort season ended. Most of our summer vacation visitors have left and our snowbird residents are preparing to leave for Arizona or Nevada.

I called the Coeur d’Alene Visitor’s Bureau, and while it has no actual way of tracking how many people come to the Coeur d’Alene/Hayden area for the vacation season, 20,000 to 30,000 people were expected this year with the tourist season being May to September each year. This translates in a major lessening of our traffic these days. You have probably noticed.

I don’t know about you, but a visit to Arizona, Nevada or even California during the long winter months here is starting to sound very appealing.

School starting begins another fall ritual – the school fundraisers. Two young ladies accompanied by a neighborhood child stopped by to ask me to support their school. It happened to be the elementary school that my son attended, and I was happy to comply.

Three minutes into their sales pitch my husband runs down our hallway and out the front door. He calls to a frantic-looking person, asking if they are looking for the three young ladies. She was.

She must have been a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility of keeping these young ladies safe because, even with repeated invitations to join the children, she stayed outside. The children collected my check and order and left. I don’t know what that adult said to them afterward, but the children haven’t raised their eyes to look at me since.

School started recently, the lazy days of summer are gone and our world changed, just as it does every year.