commonplaces

 
Sometimes the seasons move too slowly, it seems, though now it's finally getting to be autumn. It felt as if we'd finally come to a stand-still in early August when most days the temperature reached the 100s, like it had been for weeks. I was happy to see today that temperatures won't rise out of the low 80s for the next week and we'll have cool, crisp mornings. It's not so much the temperatures that are important (sweating in the summer and chattering in the winter are equally sufferable), but it's the sights and sounds and smells and touch that unexpectedly seem to sweep over you one day and say that the new season is here. I think about the first hot day of the year when you might go swimming or fishing or rest from the heat inside. I also think about what seems to be happening now: housemates and friends had our first bonfire last night, I drank some bourbon and smoked tobacco, and as we talked and joked and laughed a chill settled in the air.