First Fleece

September wheeled around and all of a sudden, there is a breeze and a breath of crispness to the air. I got to wear fleece this morning for the first time this season! For a chick who loves sweaters, this is a harbinger of snugglies and baking. Bittersweet though the shortening days may be, it has its own joys too, its own graces.
Back when I used to spend all my summers in France, it was the same thing. I left soon after the last day of school, returned often the day before classes began again. The days in France, which ended around 9 or 10 pm, melted seemlessly into one another, mostly with fixing up the immense project of my Dad's house--mowing, painting shutters, mowing, laying gravel, mowing, cleaning up ivy, mowing. Then September would show up and in quick succession, wind brought rain and it was back to the school desk. I'd sit in class smelling my new books and wondering how so many changes could sweep through in a week.
Leaves are turning, too. Many Carolinians (and others) head up to the Ble Ridge to see the full color show, but I saw it start down here too. In a larger sense too, leaves are once again turning for us. Our child is due in 80 days, and while we have yet to do any real preparation, we can sense the anticipation, the turning inward, the focusing away from the profligate days of summer.