Whiteley Creek Homestead

There sits a permanent structure on the grounds where the Albany (Minnesota) Pioneer Days is held every year in mid-September. A one-room schoolhouse. It could be the one that I attended in first grade fifty-five years ago. But it's not. It looks the same. They all do.

The warm September afternoon breeze drifting through the cloak room window, alongside the jackets worn during the crisp morning walk to school, illustrates the gentle transition between the summer and autumn seasons. The beginning of another school year. A cycle that marks the passing of time… movement of life.

The sun streaming through the window by the pencil sharpener may have caused students to linger longer than necessary… mesmerized by the leaves gently fluttering to the ground… remembering summer's carefee days.