Somehow September is here. Schools are back in session. It’s feeling more and more like fall. BUT, it’s technically still summer. And I want to hold onto summer as long as I can.

I’m making sure to savor these days. Pay attention to all the little details that make summer so lovely. In bed at night I stop reading just to listen to the crickets. I cut flowers for the house.

I slow down when eating my tomatoes and cucumbers and enjoy the taste only summer can bring. I stroke the herbs in my garden just to delight in their scents.

The butterflies and hummingbirds are busy visitors in my garden and it makes me so happy to watch them at my flowers. They seem even more present now than earlier in the summer.

Perhaps they’re savoring, too.

A couple weeks ago I watched the movie The Man in the Moon . My German pen pal was visiting when it came out in the theater. We went to see it and we bawled. When I was a young teenager I reveled in sad love stories and it was deliciously sad.

I cried this time, too. But this time what struck me about the movie was its feel of summertime. Summer itself is almost a character. The sound of crickets and the creaky fence. Night swimming and screen porch sleeping. I started thinking about movies (and books) with a summer feel to them, hoping to compile a list to return to in the depths of winter as an escape from the cold.

Here’s what’s on my list so far:

• Man in the Moon — a bittersweet coming of age story set in the summertime in the rural south in 1957. This is Reese Witherspoon’s first movie and she is wonderful.

• How to Make an American Quilt — Based on Whitney Otto’s book, this movie weaves together stories of the different generations of women who are creating a wedding quilt for Finn, a young woman writing her thesis and having second thoughts about marriage. Maya Angelou plays one of the quilters.

• My Father’s Glory — This French language movie tells the story of a young boy and his family living at the turn of the 20th Century. Much of the movie takes place during a summer vacation in Provence.

• Princess Cyd — I randomly stumbled upon this movie on Netflix and was so glad I watched it. It’s quiet and character driven, taking place in Chicago when a high school girl spends the summer with her single, writer aunt, each of them pushing and challenging the other.

• To Kill a Mockingbird — Wonderful for so many reasons. Although it doesn’t take place entirely during the summer, it definitely captures the feel of summertime for Scout, Jem and their friend Dill.

• Moonrise Kingdom — Quirky and beautifully put together, this is the story of a young boy and girl who fall in love and run away together while the entire town searches for them. Set in New England in the ‘60s.

• Fried Green Tomatoes — Although it’s not entirely set in the summertime, summer definitely has a strong presence in this story. It’s a bit magical and it always makes me laugh and cry.

  I’d love for you to chime in with your recommendations, too, for movies and for savoring these last days of summer.