And so another summer comes to an end, and fall steals in. As I get older, the seasons seem to come and go quicker and quicker…. it seems as though I just woke up from a short summer afternoon cat-nap to discover that the leaves have changed color and the night comes a bit sooner. Fall is my favorite time of year. The light of the autumn months takes on an otherworldly quality. There’s a golden glow to everything– as though the remaining life force in the plants and trees is shining its brightest just before it burns out and lies dormant until the return of spring. And the heat of summer diminishes, giving way to cooler temperatures. This seems to invigorate me. It’s wonderful to once again be able to leave the door to my screened-in porch open, giving Charlie the freedom to come and go as he pleases as he makes his rounds to see what has changed outside since his last patrol only moments before. He also loves to lay in the sun during this time. He enjoys sleeping in that sun– he wasn’t too fond of the heat of summer. I’ve often heard (and witnessed) cats greatly enjoying slowly baking in the summer sun…. but Charlie’s not into that. He seems to prefer the temperatures of fall instead of the inferno of summer (although this past summer season wasn’t nearly as hot as SOME I’ve experienced in my 12 years living in North Carlolina).

But there’s also a melancholy that comes with the changing of seasons. The shadows get longer in fall…. and twilight comes too soon. The most wonderful thing about summer for me is that the daylight lasts until almost 9 p.m. at the height of the season….. as fall encroaches, that time dwindles to 8…. and then by NOW, it’s near dark by 7:30. It was wonderful in the summer to leave the gym at 7 or so and know that there was still almost two hours of light left in the day…. now, the sun is already hidden by the time I walk out the gym door. And the thought is always in the back of my mind that within a couple of months, it will be dark by 5:30 in the afternoon. That’s not something I look forward to. So there’s always a dichotomy of warring emotions for me that comes with the advent of fall.

But the beauty of the season always wins out.

This is Entry 150.

Mike