Superchikk: I Call It “Sumtumn”

It’s a weird time of year. Not summer, but not quite fall. I often feel a bit schizophrenic when it comes to choosing what to wear (as if the pregnancy didn’t add to my issues) because it’s cool in the mornings and hot in the afternoons. The laundry pile grows exponentially because of the extra clothes we end up wearing due to the temperature swings.

Last week I even had to turn the heater on at night. And the A/C during the day. It was either 67 in the house or 88. There must be a happy medium in there somewhere and it can only be achieved this time of year by using both the heater and the air conditioner. I still feel stupid switching it back and forth. (Opening the windows isn’t an option due to our allergies. Unless, of course, we want to bring misery and death upon ourselves.)

The afternoon temperatures are perfect for enjoying time outside with Caedmon, especially since we’ve had lots of great sunshine. Except for the fact that the cursed (that’s pronounced curse-ed) ragweed keeps me inside or else I’ll be sneezing and itchy-eyed and stuffed up. I still have some of that, even staying inside. And taking allergy medicine.

But there are many things I love about this time of year. Even when it’s hot outside in the afternoons, there’s still a feel of fall in the air. Football starts back. It’s appropriate to eat “fall food” again (i.e. soup, chili, Frito pie, pumpkin stuff…you know, the stuff that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy). You don’t nearly die of heat stroke when you wear jeans. The leaves are trying to decide whether to start changing or not. A few trees jump the gun and start dropping their leaves while the grass is still green and the sun still bright and warm.

And then there are trees like ours. Idiot trees. The one that broke in half this past summer? We were afraid it would die. Silly us. That stupid tree is still growing like it’s spring. Our idiot tree has been putting on new branches and leaves all summer long, even in the 1,000 degree weather. It has no idea what it means to just chill. Our neighbor’s trees (that are the exact same kind of tree) are starting to get purple tips, getting ready for the leaves to change and fall. Our tree is still growing new baby leaves all over the place. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised since last winter it didn’t drop all of its leaves until about January. We’re on track for the same again this year.

Preparing for the cold weather that will inevitably come, there are things that need to be done outside. It’s time to clean up the summer stuff and prepare for dreary days. The Duck Tape-repaired pool is gone. The “swippy swide” is put away. And the water guns are one-by-one being confiscated and put in an undisclosed location. All that’s left to do is empty my planters of summer flowers that are letting go of their blooms and will soon be killed by a hard frost (please, frost…hurry up!).

But before I get rid of the flowers, I thought I’d enjoy a few of the last blooms they have to offer. One last hurrah before autumn officially takes hold and winter follows not far behind. The only thing that’s weird is that this is what’s been sitting on our table for the last week or so: a pumpkin from Trump’s garden, chosen especially for Caedmon.