fall.

Lately we have been joking around that anytime after the 4th of July signals an almost immediate countdown to fall. It feels that as I've gotten older, this window of time between 4th of July and Fall has grown shorter and shorter. In high school it's the ever impending date of "back of school" (September), in college it's when I'd move back to Chicago for the year (August), then at camp it seemed that that the 4th is the "beginning" of the camping season, but then everything after that is a blur and then suddenly I'm finding myself washing clothes, transferring summer goods to storage and taking out books, dishes, sweaters...college stuff. School stuff. Meaning, that August/September deadline is just around the corner. Even now, though there is nothing to blur the lines between back to school and Fall except the weather - any cool day after the 4th seems to be Fall whispering "I'm coming soon. Don't forget".Today in conversation with someone, the word "Fall" hadn't hung in the air less than 2 seconds and I immediately felt myself longing for it. For orange and red. For crunchy leaves. For pumpkins. For sweaters and leather boots and scarves. For change. For the "next".Fall can be time when it seems everything starts to die...but really it's when growing underneath starts. Begins.