The slight bite in the air has forced the heat on in our little office today. Sweet autumn is arriving, rejoice! While driving home last night I spotted large and small and misshapen pumpkins on many a doorstep. Haybales and horse-drawn carriages! Scarecrows that walk and talk and folks enjoying hot cups of cider with their neighbors, telling tales about the days of yore! Well, alright, I did not see all those things but please forgive my enthusiasm. The fall in North Carolina is like an unbelievably generous gift after the summer of always relentless heat. While in Boston it seemed the students would go from sporting bikini tops one day to buttoning up quilted jackets and donning fur caps the next, the seasons down here in the southlands gracefully flow from one to the other and the present weather just happens to be my favorite. That's how I chose my wedding date. To experience the all-too-perfect weather of the Mid-Atlantic at that time of year. Despite the fact that the weather didn't go as planned ("drenching rain," recall please), I'll always have our anniversary and be able to say "We got married in the fall. It's my favorite season."

It will be fleeting, however. Luckily there's Halloween right around the corner to ensure everyone is sufficiently festive for the great harvest.

Again, my apologies. There might not be a great harvest. There will be a keg and costumes. Costumes!