THE TIME HAS COME

I'm a summer baby. I love warm air and sunshine on my skin. Most spring and summer weekends you'll find me outside in the garden, digging, weeding, planting and trimming. On summer evenings our neighbors are not surprised to see me outside after sunset, putting away my gardening tools because I'd worked until the absolute last bit of sunlight disappeared. For some crazy reason I even prefer to exercise in warm weather. A hot, humid day might slow me down, but it doesn't stop me from enjoying myself.

I think I've made my point. I love summer. The only thing I don't like about it is that it inevitably ends. Every year around mid-August I start to hear a ticking sound in my head that tells me that time is running out and my seasonal love-affair is about to end. Then school buses appear and the sugar maple tree leaves start to change. Days get shorter and nights longer. Gradually I get a little crankier.

This year, however, was the exception to everything I've just professed. I was nine months pregnant this past August and gardening and exercise were out of the question. When the season started to change I was too distracted by the new little guy living in our house to notice.

Then yesterday, as we set out to walk to the mailbox a few streets away, I noticed a chill in the air. I bundled the baby a little more, but refused to take a jacket for myself. All was peaceful until a block later when a light gust of wind blew past us, shaking leaves from a tree above our heads. At the same time I noticed a delightful crunching sound under my feet. We were strolling over a sea of fallen and crushed acorns.

"How nice," I thought.

Then, it hit me. It's autumn. The clock is already ticking and the days are ALREADY shorter. I need a jacket. This baby has to learn to like hats. My maternity leave is almost over. Soon, walks will only happen on the weekends.

We crawled home at a snail's pace thanks to my sadness. Back inside the little guy napped and I grabbed some lunch. As I ate I thought about the outdoor chores I'll need to complete over the coming weeks. I know that, as a gardener, I should appreciate autumn as a time to reflect as I prepare the garden for our long New England winter. I understand it's a necessary rest. Rest is good. That's what we whisper to the little guy when he won't close his eyes and what we think to ourselves we finally get to lay down.

Autumn is good. Autumn is needed. I finished my lunch, re-bundled the baby and we headed back out the door. Suddenly, taking a longer, second walk became the most important thing of the day.