Are You Ready for Fall?

As firepits and well-worn sweats become your after work go-to garb and your evening cold beverage choice shifts to a warm cup of tea, you embrace that fall is finally upon us. It’s freezing out, at least compared to last week, and as you drop a log onto the fire, you look up and realize you’ve yet to winterize the pool. It’s Rhode Island, and you know a guy – but he can’t get here until next week. You make a point of getting some things prepared in the interim by reviewing an online how to close your pool guide.

You relax a bit more as day turns into night. The fire is still going strong and you head back into the house for a fresh cup of chamomile. Yes, you’re outside in your slippers but who cares – you’re in your own backyard mesmerized by the crackling glow of the fire in front of you. Then suddenly, the meditative state you’ve achieved is interrupted by the quiet ticking of sprinklers emerging from the ground. You hop up, spill your tea and run into the house managing to dodge most of the spray. You really have been meaning to call the sprinkler company to get the lines bled and the water turned off: but it’s too late to call them now so you hit the computer and start reading a how to bleed your own sprinklers guide.

It’s getting late now so it’s time to hit the hay. As you march to your bedroom you smile, longing for the warmth of your bed. Change occurs slowly at first with early sunsets and cool nights. You still keep the windows open though; trying to let the last of the summer air seep into your bedroom, dreaming deeply with covers pulled up to your neck. Stuck in that space between sleep and awake that Dali reveled in, you snooze your alarm until the very last moment – knowing that when you wake, the warmth of your bed dissolves around you and the cold floor seems to shatter your feet.

As you dust off the remnants of slumber on the way to the Keurig, your brain begins to juggle your responsibilities for the day. Your steaming coffee cools off as day breaks and you head out onto the patio. It’s windy, and for the first time this year, you hear the sound of leaves rustling as they dance with the cool grass beneath them. You make it a point to get your list together of what you need to tackle the piles before they blanket the yard.

Summer Saturdays have slipped away and it’s a little chilly out but you’re having coffee on the deck anyhow. The yard willingly offers up a to-do list for today: the seat you’re currently sitting in will have returned to its hibernation spot in the shed by dusk. You close your eyes for a moment and envision the yard at day’s end: a virtually blank landscape kept company solely by a firepit and two Adirondack chairs waiting patiently for the inevitable winter snow.