It is a fall day in New England. The only missing piece is a bit of a breeze to spin and twirl the fallen leaves. Right now it is 64°. The high will be 67°. It is a flannel shirt day.

When I was a kid, my parents took pleasure in duping us. They weren’t mean about it. In a way I guess it was sort of cute, to them anyway. One I remember is when my father would steal my nose. He’d show me my nose now held between his index and middle fingers. I’d panic and feel for my nose. My father always explained he just had the tip. I’d beg for my nose, and he always returned it. My mother did her Jack and Jill trick. She’d tape a small strip of paper on each index finger. One was Jack and the other Jill. She’d say, “Fly away, Jack,” and put her hand over her shoulder. She’d do same the with Jill. She’d then place both fingers back on the table, and Jack and Jill had disappeared. We’d check the floor behind her and the floor under the table. Jack and Jill were nowhere to be found. She’d have her hands behind her head and say, “Come Back, Jack. Come back, Jill.” She put the two fingers on the table and Jack and Jill had returned. It was magic. My mother always told us our tongues turned black when we lied. She’d question us under the hot lights to find the guilty party who had done something he or she shouldn’t have. We all said we didn’t do it. She’d tell us to stick out our tongues. The guilty party always refused. My mother had identified the miscreant who would run to the bathroom to check out his tongue. It was never black. My mother explained only mothers could see it. More magic.

Somethings are the reasons the air around me turns blue. When I am behind a car doing 30 or even 25 in a 40 zone, I get frustrated and wish I had a cattle catcher. Today I was in the queue on the phone. That disembodied voice told me where I was in the queue. I swear today I was 135th in line, okay maybe not but that is how it felt. That same voice kept telling me where I was in line. I’d be 330 then 250 then on and on (okay I really was 5th to start, but it didn’t feel that way). When she finally came on, her voice sounded as if she was eating the phone, but garbled voice or not, she did solve my problem.

Today Nala has a vet appointment for shots. She loves the car. I wonder if she will love the ride home today.

The sun keeps trying to break through the clouds. When it does, the leaves seem to sparkle. It will be in the mid 60’s today, a fall day. This morning I noticed the front garden. One side is summer as a couple of flowers have bloomed while the other side is fall. Some of the leaves have turned red.

I have always loved this season. When I was a kid, we’d carve pumpkins. I remember pulling the pumpkin’s guts to clear out its insides and pretending to throw the mess at my brother. I was never a talented carver. From year to year, my pumpkins always looked the same with triangular eyes and a triangular nose and a mouth with a few teeth. I guess you’d have to call him the traditional pumpkin. We’d put a candle inside, put the pumpkin on the outside stairs and light it every night. I remember the inside top always blackened.

My mother bought cardboard decorations. We’d put them on the picture window. I remember a witch on her broom, pumpkins, black cats and a skeleton with movable arms and legs. The skeleton was too long for the window so it went on an inside door. When I’d get home from school, l’d always stand outside for a bit and check out the window.

This time of year the air has a different smell. The flowers are gone. The leaves have started falling and rotting on the ground. The nights are cold. The night air is crisp. It is clear without the haze of the sun. I can hear crickets. I can hear the dogs crunching through the leaves in the yard.

This is soup weather. Chicken noodle was always my favorite. I’d crunch the Saltines and put them in the bowl of soup. The broth would disappear, absorbed by the crackers. If I buttered the crackers, the soup had an oil slick of sorts.

Because the mornings were cold, we sort of bundled, a different bundling than in winter. I’d wear a sweater under a jacket. That was enough to keep me warm.

I have started wearing a flannel shirt and socks. It is time to put summer away.