Goodbye summer

Reading magazines on the deck yesterday after supper smacked of wonderful indulgence.

Mild sunlight filtered through the high green branches to dapple the pages I turned with leisurely interest. 

It was like stolen time to be outside in the last of the day’s warmth at the end of the season.

The reading session was particularly appreciated because that’s it for deck time for awhile.

A chilly jab of northern air is headed our way. Signs of the season are everywhere. (Even three wooly bears seen today with their black and brown stripes are part of the signs.)

One way or the other these signals of the season are there to be interpreted and heeded. We’re moving into fall.

With reluctance backed by common sense I’m ditching the summer shorts until next year. 

Even more than the leaves starting to turn, in a few bold splashes here and there, wrap-up of summer is defined by me by the packing away of shorts.

It’s goodbye summer. Balmier stretches may return, bringing more lukewarm weather in the days to come, but this first chilly outbreak is reality knocking on the door. 

It tells us there’s now no turning back, even with a few reprieves granted us.

Fifty degree temperatures intensified by 30 mph winds will make midweek a taste of mid-October. As much as I like pumpkin time it’s a jolt to move so quickly to the further end of fall’s spectrum.

Wanting to hold on to summer, or at least to slow it down, was no doubt behind an impulse purchase made today on a trip that ostensibly started out to return some library books.

Yellow flip flops at Old Navy had summer written all over them. They made a snazzy pair in their sales bin where they shared discounted prices with other footwear which hadn’t made it out of the store during beachwear season.

In the gloom of skies expectant with rain the pop of yellow tantalized me. The flip flops couldn’t be passed up.

My only thought was to take them home with me, put them on then and there and dance with them in the little patch of summer they create wherever they step.

Descend into the chilly zone tomorrow if we must, on my feet are sandals the color of a field of sunflowers. I can now embrace eternal summer with the insouciance supplied by my bargain footwear.

With the forecast for cooler temperatures my closet has been briefly inspected. Sweaters that have had their seasonal rest are being reviewed for the wearing they soon will get.

Summer is in my blood which makes my conscience twinge at the delight which awaits in reuniting with my sweaters.

Luxury may be described in terms of diamonds and stretch limos. For me chunky knits and oversize cotton cardigans have the same luxurious effect.

Clothes closets aren’t the only areas inside the home being opened for seasonal review. Bedding here in the Midwest is rotated as well. 

Breathable bed linens and light summer spreads are stowed to be replaced by warmer layering including blankets. 

This seasonal succession of bedding items culminates in the comforters which make bedrooms veritable scenes of hibernation. We snuggle deep into the quilted coziness when the thermometer nosedives, as it predictably will before long. 

All of this is gratifying in a Martha Stewart way (or like that other methodical, efficient, industrious and organized Martha, sister of Mary in the New Testament.)

There is consummate satisfaction in effectively managing one’s home according to the season. 

With the summer ship pulling out of port, as ice crystals form over polar regions, the changeover in our house to indoor time has begun.

Ro Giencke – September 9, 2014