Rockin’ the socks.

It was another coolish morning and it’s sure starting to feel more seasonal and hard to believe that as of today, September is half over already.

On this second full week of school, the dread of returning to the grind, and the anticipation of showing off that cool lunchbox to your friends or wearing all those new duds has quickly worn off. School “daze” has now settled into school days and the rigor and ritual of school has become old news.

Yesterday, when I was on my walk, I watched a little boy dash out of the house, backpack strapped on, as he headed for the car which was purring gently in the driveway awaiting his arrival. But he made a pit stop first, as he scuffed through the wet grass and his dog jumped up on him ... twice. His mom called out the window “don’t get dirty today of all days!”

Right away I assumed it was probably the annual “school picture day” as he was in dress pants and a nice shirt. That made me think way back about my own school photos over the years. I remembered I had some of those old school pictures digitized, so I dug up this one from fifty years ago. Talk about Throwback Thursday! This was my sixth grade school photo, taken in 1966, the year we moved here to the States. My pals on Facebook and I had a lively discussion and shared some laughs about this photo, because we all remembered wearing a velveteen bowed hairband or those awful cat eye glasses. At least my furry little mink dog pin was cute and I still have it after all these years.

I’ve been people watching during my treks through the neighborhoods. I don’t see as many kids walking to school anymore, so I figure they either have their own wheels or get a ride with mom or dad. But, the ones that I see walking with their buddies sure don’t remind me of us middle and high school students back in the late 60s and 70s, respectively.

No, everything is all different now ... from the clothing, to the backpacks used instead of carrying books in the crook of your arm. And now kids walk along, their heads bowed and shoulders hunched over their phones while reviewing texts or checking social media. They are moving as a group, but barely communicating with one another. I couldn’t help but think about my high school days back in the 70s when I made that daily morning trek to school. This was long before social media of course, and the entire time while my close girlfriends and I were walking, we were talking. In fact, our mouths were going a mile a minute about the minutiae in our lives, sharing nearly every detail since we parted ways or last spoke on the telephone .

But, that was then – this is now.

So, I was kind of feeling my age ... that is, until I saw a much younger girl walking alone, dressed in a short, flippy skirt and wearing knee socks. I thought – well maybe there is a common denominator after all ...that would be knee socks.

But, a quick glance at the young girl told me these were no ordinary knee socks like I used to wear way back when. This girl was wearing knee socks that continued above the knees! Huh? Something to keep your thighs warm while wearing that short skirt when there is a chill in the air?

Well, I really was feeling old pondering that style.

Knee socks and loafers ... now that was a real fashion statement when I was growing up. It was important to color coordinate your knee-high socks to your “poor-boy sweater”, that style of pullover sweater so popular with girls and stylish young women in the 60s. Poor-boy pullovers were a stretchy ribbed material, with short sleeves that nearly touched the elbows. They fit like they belonged to your younger sister quite frankly but were a must-have in all colors. They coordinated nicely with wool plaid skirts and hounds tooth check jumpers (like I was wearing above) plus those matching knee-socks completed the look.

So, that was our back-to-school style a half-century ago (now I am feeling really old).

I’m enjoying that crisp feel when I first set out on my walk, despite feeling a little warmer on the return trip once the sun gently filters through the clouds. I’m savoring these trips because I know Summer is on the wane and Fall officially arrives one week from today.

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/