The Last Few Weeks....

busybusybusybusybusy

...and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.
-American Beauty

Lately I've felt as though my life has been a revolving door of friends, family, experiences, and general goings-on. I think part of this is the onset of fall. There are already holiday plans in the making, as though this random cold snap has everyone scurrying. You'd think it was the first week in November, the way people are reacting to the random approach of fall on what used to be firmly in summer territory.


Not that I'm complaining. Once the New York trip was over, I kind of braced myself for the inevitable let-down that follows any trip that's been a long time coming. I get to see Stupid so rarely; New Kid as well, so that whole weekend it felt as though unnecessary elements like "sleep" were infringing upon our time together. But I got back from New York and found myself in a flurry of plans, from birthdays to kayaking to Fells Point Fest to Book Club and family dinners to another great friend in town this weekend...and all of these things have transpired and I suddenly realized that it somehow became October in there somewhere.
The marathon relay is in less than two weeks, which means that somehow my ten-week training program is supposed to be coming to a close. As much as I have loved it, I (and especially my legs) are ready for a break and I'm looking forward to a winter of yoga and writing and running when I feel like it as opposed to being locked into a training schedule. Even better- Lee got us all tickets for The Avett Brothers at Pier 6 that night after the race. So I'll be happy, tired, relieved, full of beer, and watching an awesome live show.

Two years ago, Snap and I talked about "fall" as being not only a time of year, but a verb. The "fall," the allowing yourself to let go and be caught up in something. Whether it's an undisputed moment with a particularly delicious cookie or a fantastic sunset or some titillating conversation. We're so distracted, we humans, with so much going on. Sometimes the first onset of chill, the first pulling of a coat or a blanket a little tighter around ourselves fixes a moment in time. Summer slips away and we're reminded of fleeting moments and passing time. Fall is a moment to do just that...before the stillstop of winter. Fall is a slide, it's a trip into a greater descent, only this doesn't necessitate a meaning of "downward." It simply means a transition. A snaking into the next season of life, like the board game.

Fall is here. Life is good. My happy, stupid little life.

Lovely.

Lovely weekend. No traffic. Beautiful weather.

Outlet shopping, sleeping in, crab picking, kayaking, bald-eagle sighting, champagne-drinking, ice cream eating, boardwalk ride-going, beach napping, drinking fire pit-side, dancing, bike riding at sunset, long running, sub-eating, book-reading, magazine-browsing, sunny, delightful weekend. All with good friends and excellent company.

A very nice way to end what I can only describe as one of the best summers of my adult life. A lot of things came together for me this summer, and a lot of new paths opened. But, during it all, I would say that I did a pretty damn good job of squeezing everything I could out of summatime this year.

Last night on my way back from the beach, I stopped at a coffee shop on my college's campus for some tea. It was about eight o'clock, and students were buying coffee and snacks, chairs circled up already for discussion groups and meetings to kick off the new semester. At first, when I walked in, I had the distinct feeling that I had mistakenly wandered into a high school. And then I realized that I am exactly ten years older than incoming freshmen this year. TEN YEARS. It felt so odd to be standing in such a familiar location, populated by complete strangers. Children, really. My old roommate wasn't behind the counter, and no one I had ever had a crush on was perusing the Internet at one of the computer stations. The art on the walls had been done by no one I know, and the furniture had been swapped out since I graduated in 2004. Still, as I walked across the dark parking lot to my car (dark at 8pm! Fall is most definitely on its way!), the lights buzzed familiarly, the leaves crunched the way they always did, and across the road the neon TCBY sign clicked just as steadily as it did all four years of my college education.

I feel as though fall is naturally a winding down, take-stock time before I settle in for winter. This fall, in particular, feels like a lot of things are culminating. After a frenetic and highly-charged summer full of everything I most love to do, fall is time for deep breaths and clean rooms and a general feeling of settling into this new life.

Not that it will feel like fall anytime soon. This 90-degree weather will most likely stick around for awhile. But that's ok. Plenty of time for the cold to set in.

Cheers, Summer. You rocked my world.