I think I love fall because it is fleeting. Spring carries on well into summer, with the catalpa trees waiting til late June to drop their showy white blossoms, but fall doesn’t linger. The trees lose their leaves—one-by-one or all at once on a stormy afternoon—and one day the first frost strikes and the next day it snows and that’s it.

For Lindsey, on getting reaquainted with one's inner child...

This is what my nine years old looked like. Except normally not quite so reserved with eyes so downcast.


I'd forage around for my elementary school diaries for you if I thought they'd be of any help, but, alas, I already know what they are--a log of stray cat sightings, every last entry. Which reminds me of the OTHER thing I did as a nine-year-old (I was a weird, weird child). I spent my allowance every week buying gourmet cat food for the neighborhood strays. My mom spent months trying to persuade me to buy bags of dry food for a fraction of the cost, but FancyFeast advertising had really done a number on me and I couldn't be swayed... XD.