Not Ready Yet

By October 9th fall is usually well underway here in Maryland. There is a chill in the air, furnaces are on some nights, leaves are starting to turn and we’re packing our shorts and flip flops till spring or till a winter vacation to warmer climates. However, the predicted high here today is 84 and I took these shorts and flip flops out of my “to be packed away” stack and put them on me, maybe for the last time this season.

I love fall but I am still not ready to give up the end of summer. There were many active, fun times during my summer, which helped offset greater-than-usual stress levels. Some highlights: Toby Keith concert, Tim McGraw concert, U2 concert, hiking in North Carolina. I wrote more posts than normal on this blog. Read a couple of books. Spent some nice one-on-one time with a few friends at the concerts, on the hike and during a few dinners. Made some progress on a lingering personal matter. Took a lot of pictures. Got some high-level praise for a company project.

With all of that, is it any wonder why I don’t want to let summer go?

But fall has always been my favorite. I love the color and the obvious actions of Mother Nature. I love the real and symbolic ‘renewal’ aspects of the season. We slow down a little, sort of like animals who hibernate. The change of pace can give us time to look ahead, to regroup, to shed away some things in preparation for emerging next spring with renewed spirit.

All of those things are good, but I am grateful for one more day of warm weather and exposed skin.