Fading

[rejectomorph]

It's along about the second week of August that the decline of the season becomes noticeable, and I become aware that full darkness has fallen by nine o'clock. I always have mixed feelings about it. There is delight in the indication of Autumn's relentless approach, and the anticipation of cooler days as well as longer nights for watching the starry sky. But there is also a sadness at the loss of those long summer twilights which, at least in milder years than this has proven to be, I find a great delight. Though I invariably grouse about summer's heat and winter's cold, each season does offer compensations, and though I'm never sad to see the extreme seasons themselves slip away, the loss of their pleasant aspects always evokes some degree of melancholy. A month ago at this time, I'd have had my drapes open to watch the slow fading of the light, but tonight the light is already gone. I can't help but miss it.