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Seasonal
October 04, 2006
Wind's blowing tonight in that confiding, portentous way that makes me think of Halloween. A nearly full moon is high in the sky, but it's no "ghostly galleon" -- the clouds aren't right. The day was warm, summery if you can ignore the fading light. It's nearly dark by 6:30. The horses adjust to being fed later in the morning and earlier at night; clocks mean nothing to them, it's all about light and dark.
Since mid-August summer and fall have been playing yin and yang, slipping into and out of each other. Brisk days in late August; sultry ones in September. Allie's growing her winter coat -- that's mostly about light too -- so she was a bit damp after we came in from riding. Flocks of geese have been dropping in on nearby fields; their numbers are increasing and their formations when they take to the air are getting tighter. It's still a few weeks before they take off for the winter.
Fall comes in like the tide, ebbing and flowing. My windows are still open at night, but I've put an extra cover on the bed; last night I mostly kicked it off. Right now the ceiling fan is on. Monday I did laundry: for the first time since May there were no tank tops and no shorts on the line; the previous load, maybe 10 days ago, there was one of each. There were more long-sleeve shirts and more long pants -- and fewer socks. In hot weather I change socks every day; once removed, they're usually too gross to put on again. In cool weather I get two or three days out of each. Same goes for T-shirts. The first T-shirt of spring is a milestone. So is the first turtleneck of fall. I keep a couple of turtlenecks in the closet all summer, like I keep a handful of T-shirts on the shelf all winter, just in case. "Just in case" didn't happen this year; I'm still waiting. Once I don my first T-neck of the season, then I'll start thinking about swapping summer duds for winter. The off-season stuff lives in a big cardboard box in my closet.
The grass is brighter than it's been in years, thanks to the rain. There's some color in the trees, but not much; more in the shrubbery. I wonder if the foliage will turn later or brighter this year, thanks to the rain.
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