Losing Summer

I already know I'm going to have to admit I'm a glass-half-empty kind of person. It's August--full-bloom, peak of summer. Here that means heat, green, and, of course, dry brown. But there's a touch of fall to summer now. The crisp, bright greens of spring and early summer have been replaced with deep, muted greens that seem to herald yellowing leaves. Evenings are ever so slightly cooler. School is beginning. September is less than two weeks away. Summer will disappear slowly, edged out by sneaky autumn. When Halloween comes, the game's over. That's when I silently hope for inclement weather so there will be less trick-or-treaters ringing our doorbell. It's as if the changing seasons make me more curmudgeonly. But I'll really just be missing you, summer.