It was the 6th day of September- only 6 days since she’d dragged herself over the finish line of another miserable southern summer. As was always the case with her, it was an ugly and pathetic finish, but it was indeed a finish, and that was all that mattered to her. Another Mississippi June, July, and August were in the books and, while she didn’t like to wish her life away, it seemed like the only option in those hottest, most humid, and unbearable months. For 92 days, she’d sweated, perspired, and sweltered which had caused her patience to sink to dangerous levels and her mood to descend into the crotchety range. She didn’t know why she felt this way about summer, but she always had- even as a child- and the hatred had only intensified as she traveled deeper into the weeds of menopause. After 56 summer endurance competitions, she was well aware that September does not the cool weather bring when living in the Deep South, but September 1 was always a psychological victory for her. She took comfort in knowing that the worst was behind her even as sweat rolled down her back and her pulse pounded in her flushed face. - excerpt from Joni’s memoirs, Hell’s Not For Me

We’ve all made it to September and I’m just completely giddy about it. I’ve even felt this strange movement of the air already. It’s been a long, long time, but I think I remember the phenomenon being called wind. It was hot wind- like a convection oven, but moving hot air is a modest improvement to still hot air. I’ve filled my pumpkin jar with candy corn and have my fall candles doing their thing. The sound of college football on TV, the azure blue sky, and the smell of pumpkin-apple-vanilla-maple-clove-cider-spice all in the air at once have awakened a part of me that dies each summer. I realize we’ll have many ups and downs in temperature yet to traverse. There will be many “fool’s fall” days where we’re tricked into thinking the heat has finally passed, but all southerners know that Santa will come and go before we can really be sure. We’ve experienced enough Thanksgivings in shorts and Christmases with the AC running to know the war has not been won. We’re not naive about what stage of fall we’re in- but we can pretend, can’t we? 

This last month leading up to fool’s fall has really been fun….and exhausting. We’ve had a busy few weeks and three BIG Saturdays in a row. We had the gender reveal for the expectant parents and found out we’re getting a grandson, Jack! That was all the information I needed to start picking up little things here and there. Punkin is just beside herself. The next weekend, we moved into a townhome we bought in the area where both of our kids live. I guess you could call it the grandparent starter kit. We’ll have a home away from home for when we go visit or help with the baby. We’ll be 15 minutes from one of our children and 20 minutes from the other. We have no interest in moving. Let me repeat- no interest in moving. Our life is in Mississippi and that’s where we’ll continue to live, but it’ll be nice to have a place of our own to stay since we’re sure our desire to see Jack will be stronger than their desire to see us coming. And, finally, last Saturday, we went to the first Mississippi State football game (got soaking wet) and we met Carson’s girlfriend’s parents for the first time. It was a great day and we loved them! We’re 2 for 2 in the category of significant others’ family compatibility and likability. You hear horror stories where that’s not the case, but I’m happy to say our kids chose wonderful families to bring into the fold. 

We’re in a happy time and just thanking God with every other breath. You know how life is- it’s a tapestry of joys and sorrows. As sure as the sun rises and sets, we’ll go in and out seasons of laughter and tears our whole lives. I’m just rejoicing and praising God for the joys of today and the promise of the coming cool air of tomorrow……or, you know, whenever. Eventually.