It’s September!

by Jacob Venuti

There is something about September in Leland, Mississippi, that feels different. It is not quite fall, but summer is beginning to loosen its grip. The days may still be warm, the humidity may still hang in the air and the sun may still beat down on the Mississippi Delta, but there is a feeling that change is coming.

You can see it in the fields.

Across the Delta, combines begin making their way through the rows, as farmers work to bring another year’s crop out of the ground. Along the roads surrounding Leland, it is not unusual to see farm trucks hauling grain, equipment moving from one field to another and dust hanging in the air behind machinery. Mississippi’s agricultural economy remains deeply connected to crops such as soybeans, corn, cotton and rice; and harvest season is one of the most recognizable signs that summer is coming to an end.

For those who grew up in Leland, these sights and smells are more than just signs of agriculture. They are part of home.

There is a particular smell that comes with this time of year: the smell of freshly turned dirt, the smell of grain being harvested, the smell of dust settling along a Delta road. And, before long, there will be the unmistakable smell of fields being burned, as farmers begin cleaning up what remains after the harvest.

As the sun begins to set over the Delta and on Friday nights, high school football stadiums come alive. The lights turn on, the marching bands play, families find their seats and communities gather together to watch young men take the field. For a few hours, the worries of the week seem to disappear.

Then comes Saturday.

The Friday night lights give way to college football, and across Leland, televisions are turned toward stadiums. College football becomes the soundtrack to Saturday afternoons and evenings.

And, here in Leland, there may be no better feeling than knowing that September has arrived, summer is slowly coming to an end and another beautiful Delta fall is just beginning.