the end of summer

On the last day of summer I woke from dreams of sledding. My bedroom window was open, the air was crisp, but I was warm beneath blankets. I watched the sun rise through trees and made coffee and took pictures.

Later that afternoon I was leisurely examining pumpkins when I was informed that I had less than an hour left of summer.

"But I thought fall officially started tomorrow!" I wailed.

Nope.

I made my purchase, jumped in my car, rolled down the windows and cranked up my stereo.
Pavement. For various reasons including nostalgia and the sunny sounds of certain songs, I consider Pavement requisite summer music, and have for the past 10 years or so. Gold Soundz, in all its shimmery greatness, is quite possibly my most favorite summer song ever.

I drove by Angel Falls and noticed a boy and a girl engrossed in deep conversation. The boy was wearing a heavy jacket and a red scarf wrapped about his neck. It was 83 degrees.



Fall officially began at 6:32 pm and my housemate, Lisa and I stood out on our balcony porch, toasted summer and welcomed fall. It was oddly, unexpectedly bittersweet. We took pictures with the heirloom pumpkin - Cinderella varietal because I think it's supposed to resemble the pumpkin that turned into a carriage.





Later in the evening we went for a drive. Lisa brought a frozen fruit bar, whether out of defiance for fall or a deep-seated desire for strawberries, I'm really not sure.

We lowered the windows, though the wind was already doing the October shiver through the trees. Dampness in the air.

We listened to Louis Jordan yelp "Caledonia! Caledonia! What makes your big head so hard?" and took pictures of neon signs and reflections and light in the darkness.

Then we came home and laughed at the fact that our dining room was glowing orange from the 70s lamp that sits beneath the oil painting my grandmother made - the only mountains I see these days.

Goodbye summer - cicadas, humidity, ice cream, bicycling out late.
Hello fall - cardigans, cider, crisp air, beautiful colors everywhere.

Currently spinning:
The Mountain Goats mix-o-rama