It Can't Be That Time Yet

This morning Stein and I watched our niece Mia because her mom and dad were out of town. Stein got up early to go over there and let me sleep in a bit (such a nice boy, that Stein). When the alarm went off for me, I realized that I was deep under the covers, including the quilt. The recent nights have been very cool, such good sleeping weather in my opinion. I turned on the TV where the weather guy said that it was going to be in the 80's, but it was still cool in the morning. Great, I thought, shorts and sweatshirt weather. My favorite weather. But while I love this kind of weather, it always means one of two things: spring is coming or fall is coming. In the case of the latter, I have to say that it doesn't make me happy. I mean, I like fall and all it brings - college football Saturdays, trips to the cider mill, new school supplies, a change in wardrobe, etc. But with all these good things comes the inevitable next season - winter. I hate winter. Loathe it. Despise it.

To make matters a little more depressing today, as I got in the car to take Mia to school, there was a red leaf on the ground. I said to Mia, "You won't believe it, but there's a red leaf on the ground. Do you want to see it?" "Yes!" she shouted. So I picked up the leaf and handed it to her. As I watched her twirl it in her hands, I said, "It can't be time for fall yet, can it?" and shook my head in disbelief. "Summer's not over yet, is it?" "No!" she shouted. For Mia the end of summer means no more swimming in the lake, no more tubing, no more weekend nights spent at the cottage. For her it's the end of something - summer. For me it's the beginning of something - winter. Either way, it stinks.

After I dropped Mia off at school, I went to Kroger to pick up some groceries. As I walked to the door of the store, I looked over where they have the plants and flowers of the season kept outside. And what are the flowers "of the season"? Mums. Mums? Yes, the traditional flowers of fall. The flowers that sit next to pumpkins and hay bales on porches in the fall. I thought, no, it is not fall yet. It is still summer. It's going to be 80 degrees today. So what did I do to show my solidarity with summer? I went in the store and bought a cantaloupe.