Fabulous Fall Friday

 


But it's still August!  I know!  I KNOW.  But it is a perfect fall Friday, even if it isn't fall yet!  And I KNOW it isn't.  Today is that perfect Sumtumn day.  (And if you don't know what that is, read:  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/08/summertime-blues.html where I coined the phrase for the first time...has anyone trademarked it yet?).

Summer IS wrapping up.  I hate to say it, but...There are plenty of signs of it.  Signs like:

  • The first hurricane of the season.  (I'm looking at you Erin).  She raced up the eastern seaboard.  As far as I know, the storm didn't land anywhere specifically (yet...or I could be wrong...I don't watch too much news any more for my mental health.  I'm still in the fight of trying to be informed but not hearing all the crazy BS that is coming out of the current administration.  Even when I just think of the horrible and hurtful things...my blood boils, so I try to keep my distance.  I mean who the F*** thinks slavery wasn't wrong or that Nazism is okay?  I've gotten off track here haven't I?  Sorry!)  I know that the beach that I spent just about every summer on has been closed due to weather.  And I'm grateful that I don't have a house there anymore because you know there would be flooding and issues that would send me over the edge.  As it is, I worry about my cousin who has a house on the beach in North Carolina (not the outer banks), even though he assured me the other day that he is fine.  I know hurricanes are a fact of life as summer ends and autumn begins, but they are getting more and more frequent and fierce.
  • Which brings me to the cool weather that we've had.  Sunday was particularly hot.  But by Monday morning I'd turned off the a/c unit in the bedroom and opened the windows.  Then it got so cold in the house that I had to close the windows!  Tuesday I regretted wearing sandals to the office.  Wednesday it was so chilly when I got home from the office that I put on sweats.  That made for a comfortable drive to PA, but Thursday I changed from a three-quarter length shirt and capri pants back to sweats and then at the end of the day I tossed the sweatshirt for a T-shirt but kept the sweatpants on.  Today, I am back to the three-quarter length shirt and capris as the temperatures start to climb.
  • Of course, the temperatures are going to climb and there may be some rain this weekend.  You know why, right?  Because of another sign of autumn...we are taking our son back to college this weekend.  He's halfway through!  Where did the time go?  I know he's asking where did the summer go.  Maybe he was home in May, but it seems like just a few days ago to him.  He's been working hard with two jobs, although one is more than just a job to him.  (My kid, I must have done something right because he's really dedicated to making life easier/better for other people.  Maybe it's just simple things, but those simple things really DO count.)  I'm sure it will be a challenge going from living pretty much alone in a house to being in a tiny dorm room with a roommate and sharing a "suite" (I use the word loosely here) with 3 other people.  Yes, they like each other and care about each other, but still...it's a big change.  
  • This weekend is also BBYRA at LYC.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about:  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2024/08/wistful-weekend.html)  I was wistful about it last year, I may be more so this year.  Traditions are hard to give up.  Even when they weren't perfect (what is?), they are still cherished in many ways.  And this is the time that I really DO miss being at the shore.  This is the first year that I have not had my feet in the sand.  (Because even when I was really little and we didn't rent a house at the shore, we would go down to visit my great uncle and aunt for a day.  We'd also spend some time at Cape Cod, at the long gone Melrose Inn, where I wish I could go again, but...)  There is no sand for me this year, unless I go up to Skytop and illicitly hit their beach at the swimming lake or stand in the middle of a sand trap on the golf course.  I believe both would be frowned upon.
  • Another sign of autumn is very much apparent in my yard.  Leaves are starting to turn.  (A few weeks back as I was heading back to NJ and coming down a steep hill, I could see one blazing red tree in the distance amid a sea of green.)  We are surrounded by trees which make the autumn season beautiful.  (While green is nice and I enjoy it; how can you not LOVE the many different colors of the autumn.  When everything is just one shade, it is boring.  Diversity brings so much to our life and enriches it.  Of course, I'm just talking about the leaves, right???)  Amazingly, the red and pink roses are still going strong (perhaps even stronger than there were earlier in the season).  Different flowers/plants keep blooming when I least expect them, in a wide array of colors.  There are reds, pinks, purples, yellows, whites...such wonderful diversity enriches my mental health and soul.  (Again, I'm just talking about the plants...right?)

And there are more signs to come.  Soon I'll be stuck behind school buses on my travels.  (Reminder, both sides of traffic MUST STOP when the bus stops.  BOTH SIDES!)  The bus and city light rail will be more congested.  (Though hopefully not as congested as it was on Wednesday morning when the light rail didn't come right away like it usually does, leaving a good 30 or so people waiting for it and while it finally DID arrive it was packed.  Once we were all squeezed in, more people got on at the next three stops and then it just stopped, and we sat there.  Waiting...until after 10 or so minutes it finally started moving again.  Only to slow to a crawl just before we got to our final destination of Newark Penn Station.  The whole experience was over 30 minutes, which may not sound like much but when you realize that the average trek is under 10 minutes...well...)  We will (hopefully) continue to have cool nights/mornings with sunny days that slowly warm.  Pumpkin spice and Halloween candy have already hit the stores.  (Remember, no pumpkin spice until NEXT weekend...Labor Day weekend is the beginning of the pumpkin spice season, and it ends the Monday after Thanksgiving.  No excuses!)  And there are my beloved mums hitting the garden centers.  (You know I'll buy them even though the deer will munch down on them...they along with my autumn decorations will start to go up in home after next weekend.)

 Here's hoping for lots of fabulous Fridays (and Saturdays and Sundays and... well you get the idea) full of diversity and peace.  (I'm talking about nature...right??)



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