Summer's Almost Gone

The sky was a little different yesterday, the light a little more white, a little more blue. It was still summer, warm and humid, but the color of the air was September. Most people won't see it for a while but it's there. When I saw it I thought of a day in 1982, swimming with Mindy at Brighton Beach. It was a week after Labor Day and the lifeguards were gone for the year, but we were out in the deep water, the water so warm and buoyant. It must have been around six when we headed for shore. As soon as my feet hit the bottom and I stood upright I could feel it, that little chill in the breeze that raised gooosebumps on my skin. As I walked out of the ocean I said goodbye for now, because I knew I wouldn't wade back there again until Columbus Day had passed, and Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years and Valentines Day and Easter and so many chapters of life lived on dry land. It made me sad but it made me grateful.