Each time the weather gets cool I think to myself, this is the first real autumn day.

Today we had more clouds than sun, a stiff breeze out of the northeast, and the temperature never got above sixty degrees. On my way back from an errand at about lunch time, I stopped to talk with Patrick, the contractor who’s renovating a historic house a few doors down from us. I asked him if he had gone to the meeting on Wednesday where the National Park Service presented their plans for the Corson building which stands between his house and the building with our apartment. He had, and he pointed out where there would be an emergency exit from the fifty-seat theatre they’re going to build, and where there would be a retail store. I asked him about the house he’s renovating, and he said he decided to put in two residential units, instead of one commercial and one residential unit. I started to say that made sense because you don’t see many vacant apartments downtown but you do see lots of empty commercial space, when suddenly Patrick shook my hand and said, Hey, good to see you, gotta run.

I realized that he had been standing there wearing nothing but a t-shirt, while I had on a long-sleeved shirt and fleece vest. He must have been freezing. The warm days when you could have long conversations outdoors are about over. Maybe this was the first real autumn day; except I know it’s going to get still colder, and soon this will seem like one of the warm days.