Today is chilly at 64°. It is supposed to rain most of the day, and the darkness of the day and the color of the clouds have me waiting for the first drops. I’ve decided to put the storm door on the back door as cold air comes in at night because I have to leave the door open for the dogs to go out. I can feel the chill all the way down the hall. Summer is truly gone.

My father used to spend a whole Saturday taking down the screens and putting on the storms which had been stored in the cellar. He needed a ladder. That, of course, scared us all. First he would climb the ladder and take the screens off the windows one by one. Next he’d carry a storm up the ladder. He had to hook it at the top of the window. That was the dangerous step because he needed both hands. The storms were heavy as the frames were wooden so we watched and waited. He never fell, so unlike my father. He moved from window to window then to both doors. Once the storms were on, we seldom opened a window as we had to hook it at the bottom so it would stay open just a bit. Besides, the inside windows were drafty even with the storms so we had air, cold air, and sometimes even frost on the inside window glass. I used to use my nails and write a message in the ice.

My dad was a football fan. Every week he watched the Giants, his favorite team as there were no Patriots back then. He was a screamer. If there was a fumble or an interception, he’d let the players know his dissatisfaction. He used to carry in dinner or snacks and eat while watching. His spot was on the side of the couch at the arm rest. It was beside a table on which he had a program guide, a holder for his glasses, an ashtray, a book he was reading and a filled candy dish, usually with Hershey’s miniatures. Sometimes he’d hide special candy under the couch. It was always right below where he sat so not so great a hiding spot. We all raided his candy. He’d eat his Hydrox cookies with milk. My father was a snacker.

I’m watching the Patriots mostly, but I’ll sneak looks at the Sox game. It is amazing that baseball’s regular season is coming to an end. I was standing on the deck the other day, and the air felt like autumn. No trees have changed yet, but that is coming. Summer is riding off into the sunset to mix a metaphor. Fall will soon hold sway.

This entry was posted on September 20, 2026 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.