Thursday, August 31, 2006

On the Cusp

By Judith

When I was about 12 or 13, there were some days when I couldn't figure out if I was still a kid or had moved on to being grown-up. Should I play with my Barbie dolls or try on jewelry?

This, the last day of August had that same kind of indecision in the air - is it still Summer or is Fall coming on? The sun beat down from a cloudless sky and caused beads of sweat to accumulate on my arms. The dampness of the soil combined with the scent of the plantlife in the park and the warmth of the sun on the grass gave the air a hot, musky smell that said, "Yes, Summer's here and always will be."

And yet, when the breeze kicked up it had the definite feel of crispness that goes along with bonfires, football and pumpkin pie. Crickets only get big enough to make a sound when they rub their legs together towards the end of Summer. Today you could hear them over the coursing of the waters at St. Anthony Falls (granted, there's been so little rain this year that the falls look more like a giant water slide). This is the eighth day of the State Fair; we're 2/3 of the way through now. No doubt about it, Autumn is just around the corner.

I could appreciate Fall more - the brilliant colors of the sugar maples, sunny days with a snap in the air, a new sweater from Land's End - if it weren't followed by that "W" word. That mind-numbing, soul-killing, butt-freezing season of interminable length that can't even keep itself clean. I wish I liked Winter; there's so much of it that I'm writing off a good part of the year. But Winter and my circulation (or lack thereof) just don't get along, so I'll continue to take advantage of days like these and keep them in the hard drive of my brain to replay when there is no sun, no warmth, no chirping crickets and remember when Summer wasn't ready to give up just yet.

4 comments:

  1. Judith,

    It isn't Labor Day here in SC, and it can't be. Thanks to a lawsuit, South Carolina's big Labor Day festival in Florence was moved to Fort Worth, Texas as part of the settlement, which has brokered by The Johnnie Cochran Firm.

    I was in Florence on business last week, and they told me it doesn't seem to be Labor Day with this result.

    So we don't have Labor Day here in SC.

    P. S. I am excited -- my voice teacher is singing in the SC Philharmonic's production of Messiah in November. Of course I'm ordering tickets. It beats going to a karaoke bar setting at church for a Top 40 show.

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  2. I was out at ten to six this morning on my way to my adoration chapel. A guy could have used a sweater and lots of dew on the car windows.

    After such a glorious Summer, kind of depressing. Although Fall is the prettiest season around here, I think.

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  3. Your post summed up all I am feeling in this strange time of year.

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  4. Thanks all for your comments. And now that the State Fair is over and Fall doesn't technically begin for almost three weeks, it really is like being in limbo.

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