Fall began earlier this week, but I've always felt it really coincides with the start of the school year.
By that definition, it has been fall in our city for more than a month. The deeper we get into September and October, the crisper the mornings become. Since May or so, almost all of my morning walks have been done in a t-shirt and shorts. Now the long-sleeve pullovers come out.
It would be one thing if it ended there, and if in a few months we were again enjoying warm mornings and even warmer afternoons.
But that pleasantly brisk 5:30am walk is just the beginning. For those of us on the shores of Lake Erie, there is a long period ahead of falling temperatures that won't bottom out until January/February, perpetually gray skies, and yes, snow and ice.
I never used to think much of the September-through-March slog. It just came and went and you got through it.
But man, I swear the older I get, the longer it seems. Those first signs of warmth in mid- to late March are always welcome, and they always feel like an ordeal we've come through together. But enduring the cold months gets just a bit tougher each year.
Of course, no matter where you live, there are climatic challenges. If it's not hurricanes it's tropical humidity (or both). Or much worse cold than we get here. Or unending rain.
Our weather issues probably aren't any more difficult to deal with than anyone else's. It's just...boy, I don't know how a six-month period can suddenly feel like it's years long, but it does.
Oh well, we'll live. Terry and I have talked about becoming snowbirds eventually, but for now, we grin and bear it.
OK, admittedly, I'm not grinning.
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