Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Numbered Days

It was cold today, colder than it has been in a very long time. There was a morning in May when I stepped outside in my sweatshirt and pajamas and realized the world had changed, warmed, and I suddenly felt as though I'd drown in all my clothes, drown and then spontaneously combust. This morning, in my shorts and flip flops I realized the world had changed back, that I could see my breath and the air on my bare feet was not just uncomfortable but icy. When I checked the temperature I was shocked to see it read 47˚, the kind of day that requires long socks and a jacket.

There was a breeze on our walk this afternoon and while I tried not to let it bother me, tried to focus on Duncan plodding through the newly cut grass before me, the clippings catching in his ears and cheeks as he bent low to sniff his way through them, it did bother me. There was less leisure to our stroll, little enjoyment in watching the teams on the baseball fields, greater urgency to escape that shrill cacophony they refer to as a high school marching band. As we walked, the sun far away and behind the clouds, I realized that my days of bares toes and sandals are numbered. It will have snowed once by the end of the month as it has every September since we moved here nine years ago. First my feet will hide, then my legs and arms and far too soon only my face will be visible on our walks.

As we waited in the island on Bowles for the traffic to clear Duncan sat patiently at my side looking up at a tiny piece of cotton dancing in the breeze below the leaves. I followed his gaze and saw a spider, tiny and young, still white and almost translucent, struggling to climb its wildly waving thread, moving carefully an inch or two at a time only to catch in the wind and drop lower, its little legs clutching and grasping all the while.

I will clutch and grasp at the last of Summer as long as I possibly can.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are the cold front we are getting! It was The. Hottest. Day. Ever. I look forward to the change!

P.S. Hug and rub your boy for me - I would if I could!

Lori Whitwam said...

Yep, fall hit right on schedule here, too. Humid and hot, then rain yesterday morning, by evening it was in the 50s, and 47 on my way to work this morning!

Anonymous said...

I recently noticed how much shorter the days are. It always seems to happen quickly. All of a sudden it's dark and it isn't even 8 o'clock.

Greg said...

The turn of the seasons is the same each year, and yet it never fails to take us by surprise.

May your days be sunny and warm as long as is reasonable...and may you have a soft flannel shirt waiting to comfort you after that!

Anonymous said...

I should also add, you know what the colder weather means...the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte!!