Fall

“The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many. ” ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Fall is coming.  Can you smell it?  I almost can. It sneaks in thru the windows at night, that crisp, dying scent. And yet the days are still warm and sunny and long.

The kids hurry now, squeezing the last bits of summer from their days.  Sighing occasionally, knowing it’s nearly over, school is coming.  Counting days in a topsy turvy way, hating the end of the long summer off but excited and nervous over seeing old friends and starting a new grade.

The smell of school supplies brings fall ever closer; crayons and pencils and fresh, unused ballpoints, erasers and glue.  Rainbows of folders and notebooks and binders.

We’ll laze around, enjoying our long Labor Day weekend. Maybe work in the yard, tugging up some final weeds and pruning back the roses.  Take a ride, thrilled with the sun on our shoulders and the wind in our hair.

But fall is coming.

We’ll begin to see it soon. Smell it more keenly.  Sense it in the shortening days and the thinning of the air.

Anticipation of long walks in cozy hoodies makes me smile.

No rush. I’ll soak up the sun and patiently wait.

Fall is coming.