"When summer gathers up her robes of glory,And, like a dream, glides away."

(-Sarah Helen Whitman)

Labor Day is the harbinger of all those changes that for me mean the advent of Fall, whether it’s officially here or not. Lemonade season is drawing to a close, and many of the summer perennials have finished their work for another year. Coming downstairs in the morning, long shadows greet me where they previously had not, heralding the sun's journey.

I travel all Fall in my job, and so, for me, next Sunday, the madness begins!

This past weekend, though, I went to visit my dad, along with my sister Mary Kate and Oscar, my brother-in-law. I won’t be able to see them again for some time, so I wanted to head down to Georgia while I could.

My dad surprised me with a “Happy Un-Birthday” celebration. It’s not my Birthday, but when we were kids, we’d have un-Birthday parties sometimes, and so he took us all out to dinner, had a gift for me to unwrap, and brought out an ice-cream cake for dessert for me. My birthday falls in October, and I’m always on the road and far from home on that day.

Daddy bought me two new teacups and saucers for my collection. I certainly wasn’t expecting any celebrations for me, so it was a sweet surprise.

Soon, I’ll be seeing lots of the country, and watching the seasons change from all over creation. This year, I’ve scheduled trips so that I do get home a few times, for several days. I’m actually looking forward to it, now that it’s time…

"As Summer into Autumn slips
And yet we sooner say
"The Summer" than "the Autumn," lest
We turn the sun away,

And almost count it an Affront
The presence to concede
Of one however lovely, not
The one that we have loved --

So we evade the charge of Years
On one attempting shy
The Circumvention of the Shaft
Of Life's Declivity."
- Emily Dickinson, As Summer Into Autumn Slips