September 2028: autumn arrives on a Friday
Dispatch, Friday 22 September 2028. The season turns today at the equinox, on time and without ceremony. Autumn now holds the northern half of the world; spring holds the southern. The month runs 30 days, from Friday 1 September to Saturday 30 September. It leans on the weekend: five Fridays, five Saturdays and four Sundays. Across weeks 35 to 39 there are 21 business days. One golf cup is already decided at Valhalla in Kentucky, and a last weekend refuses to finish inside the month.
The calendar stands down
The Paralympics closed on Sunday 27 August, and nothing since has needed rescheduling. September runs on ordinary weeks, 35 to 39. The fixtures displaced by the Games summer are settling their 2029 dates against a quieter year. After July and August, plain is a compliment.
Los Angeles has handed its venues back and returned to its ordinary traffic. Travellers split between the last northern warmth and the first southern spring. Both queues report satisfaction.
Valhalla's week in Kentucky
The month's one marquee fixture was the Solheim Cup, the United States against Europe in women's golf, at Valhalla. The course hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup, and it staged the matches from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 September. Practice days had opened on Wednesday 6 September, and the decisive singles fell on the month's second Sunday.
Kentucky had never staged a Solheim Cup, and the tour had not stopped there for more than 50 years. A match-play crowd spent a week in Louisville. The galleries have thinned now, and Louisville has its weekdays back.
The weekend tilt
Fridays arrive on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Saturdays follow on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th. Sundays stop at four, on the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th.
Mondays through Thursdays run four each. The fifth weekend therefore begins on Friday 29 September and completes itself in October.
That is 9 weekend days, 21 business days and four whole Friday-to-Sunday weekends inside the month. Anyone rostering shifts should note that the month ends mid-weekend, on Saturday 30 September.
The moon kept a modest diary. It was full on Sunday 3 September, with last quarter on Tuesday 12. The new moon arrived on Monday 18, and first quarter is due on Monday 25. No eclipse and no solstice; the sky files a quiet handover note.
September 2028 ends on Saturday the 30th with one weekend half-finished. The next full moon is due on Tuesday 3 October. Both items are October's business now.