Stealing Sunlight

   Over the last few days, with the first stretch of rain the city has had in two or three months, I am reminded how fleeting the summer is. It always seemed so long when I was small. 

   I can't believe school starts up for college students at UP next Monday and my dear friend, Anne, and her boyfriend Lee will start grad school this Monday as well. I can't believe sometimes how four years of college seemed to go so slow, but I also can't understand how it's all over either. 

  For the last week or so I try to turn a blind eye to the fact that the trees are getting tinged with yellow and there seems to be more leaves on the ground. The old Carolyn would wait all year for the trees to go fiery, but now I'm trying to hold onto the last vestiges of summer. 

  I realize time goes on and things change but the natural inclination to hold onto what is good and fun and healthy is hard to let go of. Here's the truth: one of my worst fears about creating a life in Portland is that each winter will bring with it the blues and Lord knows I've had enough to fill a few years, if not a lifetime. So, I'm just hoping this winter is different. The hardest part is the rain and grey sky. I like rain, but I don't like getting soaked and feeling damp all over. And I really don't like it when the winter stretches into April, and then May, and then June....

   But there are good things to fall too. Sheep and wool festivals and trees turning color and crisp air and fall fashion and halloween and the most fabulous day of the year: my birthday. So I say to Fall, bring it on, just don't steal my sunlight!