September is here and while that in itself is hard to believe – 2026 is flying by – it’s comforting to know I am not the only one surprised by the swift passage of time.

I happened to see a friend recently who I hadn’t seen in a while and of course, had to show her a recent photo of my granddaughter. I was pulling it up on my phone and she said, “What is she now, 2, 3?” She was floored when I showed her the first day of TK photo, Lorelei in pigtails, with an oversized backpack, smiling that mischievous 4½ year old smile of hers. My friend looked at me and said “Wasn’t she just a baby?”

I had to agree; yes, it seems like she was just a baby.

Within the first few weeks of school, my granddaughter has been able to be the ‘teacher’s helper’ on a couple of occasions, or so she has told us; not really sure what that all entails but she has seemed happy about it and was actually disappointed on a recent Friday night when she learned she didn’t have to get up early for school the next day. Here I thought she would enjoy the chance to ‘sleep in’ since her soccer game was later in the day; instead, she was lamenting the fact she didn’t have go to school.

On another topic, with the recent passing of Dolly Parton, it brought to my mind the Imagination Library, a program we signed Lorelei up for years ago. Each month, a free book arrives in the mail for her, courtesy of the program founded by Dolly, and the Escalon Library even has a cutout of Dolly Parton that serves to highlight the program. A few weeks ago when we were at the library, I pointed it out to Lorelei and told her that was the lady that made sure she got a new book every month. She really enjoys seeing what her book is and we usually read it within a day or so of its arrival. The program, available through many libraries, gets books into the hands of kids from birth up to five years old. That’s a lot of books over the course of a few years and what a beautiful legacy for Dolly to leave.

My daughter and son-in-law always made sure to read Lorelei a bedtime story when she was younger, almost every night without fail one or both of them would read to her before settling her down. She still enjoys being read to but also sometimes likes to ‘read’ to you – either by making up her own story as she goes along or telling it as she has memorized it.

Either way, she has learned that books are an extension of your imagination and she definitely has an active one.

A little hard to keep up with, on occasion, but always entertaining.

And since this column has already jumped from here to there, we will finish on one more tangent.

School is back and that means fall sports season is here too. This time of year just seems to energize me; summer is a bit of a slower pace (though it went by incredibly fast as well) and when I get back out on the football field or the volleyball court, there’s a new level of excitement about what could be accomplished. A fresh start; a new beginning … I know for many that’s what spring signifies but autumn is my favorite time of year. Welcoming in the cooler weather, the arrival of the rain and the chance to share new stories … let’s do it all again.

Marg Jackson is editor of The Oakdale Leader, The Escalon Times and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 209-847-3021.