falling dark
A few days ago I came to a stopping place in the chapter book we're reading in the evenings (Julie of the Wolves, in case you were wondering) and looked up in complete surprise at how dark it was. "Yikes!" I said. "It must be late! We should be in bed!" I was even more surprised when the boys, who had a better angle on the clock, told me it was just ten past seven. Never mind: it had been a very busy day, so we were happy to sleep when the sun told us to. But it was startling to realize just how fast the days are shortening lately, here in the moment of the fastest shortening of the year. It's not something I really keep track of, but it feels like not much more than a week ago we could have been reading outside well past 7:00! (it was also warmer then; the past few evenings have been pretty chilly).
Yesterday we had another lesson in what fall evenings mean when we took a walk to work off the big heavy supper that I made (chicken! biscuits! mashed potatoes and gravy!). We headed out before 6:30 for a little loop in our local woods, but before we were even half way through it was clear that we should have brought lights. Thankfully we know the path very well indeed so we weren't too bothered, but it was a little stressful for the half of the party who were without shoes and had to contend with stubbing their toes on roots. We have an outdoor gathering a our friends' house this evening; it feels like it'll be getting dark before we even leave the house! Happy October; fall is here.