GATHERING EVIDENCE

Just when you’ve assured yourself that it’s not exactly fall, even if the kids are going back to school, given that the days are warm as summer, warm enough for frozen strawberry daiquiris, and the flowers are magnificent, and the late golf walk-ons at Riverside don’t start until 6:00—just when you have gathered all that evidence to make the case--reality strikes. You go out before breakfast to pick some sweet peas for the reception desk at work, and what do you hear? A flock of geese, a big flock, filling the Eastern sky, filling the warm morning with their honking. Even though they are already high up you can almost figure out what they are saying, that they are talking about the clouds and the winds and this morning’s early shower, discussing the trip south, how long it should take and where they are likely to find the most luscious fields for picnics along the way. Now I ask you, has there ever been a more reliable indicator of fall?