Thursday, September 9, 2010

Torn between two seasons…


Today is one of those days when you can feel the seasons are changing. Yesterday – September 8 – was HOT, HUMID, SUNNY – 90. It definitely didn’t feel like typical Philly weather, but then again, this summer has felt anything but typical. It is one of the warmest on record.

For a former Florida-girl, self declared sun-worshipper, beach lover… days like yesterday are reminiscent of my sweet life in Tampa. It’s a place where it feels like summer all year round. I know I have talked about this before, but, WOW, I miss Tampa. I can still feel the sand from St. Pete Beach under my toes. Everyday has that “vacation day” feeling, even on work-days. I would drive past dolphins swimming in Tampa Bay while on my way into work. For a Northern, it was wild.

But after a while, I almost came to take it for granted. Now I am up here, in Philadelphia, and I can feel fall creeping in. “Winds of change.” While it is a cliché there is a reason cliché’s exist, because there is some truth in them. Today is one of those days. The wind shifted, the air is cooler and drier, only reaching into the upper 70s. While it was beautiful outside today, the temperature is almost a shock to the summer skin.

That’s the way I felt every time I flew up “north” to visit, while I lived in The Sunshine State. I felt like I needed a week just to thaw out every time I came back. Now that I am a “Northern” again, I guess, the summer weather is starting to feel just like I remember when I was younger. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Days like today, though, make you kind of look forward to fall. There is that little bite in the air. You can pull out the jeans and light sweaters. I almost feel like I should be hanging my head in shame, though, when I say that. I feel like I am cheating on a significant other - that being Florida, summer.

This summer flew by for me. I was swamped between work and an internship. Saturdays were my only day off. I was at the beach ONE day. It was pitiful. Summer is no fun when it is blistering and you can’t be hanging by the water. Instead, I was sweating in dress clothes, riding on the train, on my way in and out of Center City. Or I was rolling out of bed before dawn and driving 40 minutes to put in a shift at the traffic job.

Now that the seasons are starting to shift, so is a phase in my life. I started my 3rd semester of grad school. With the way I scheduled work and school, I will actually have three days a week off for a few months. I may finally be able to finally catch my breath a little and wipe off the sticky summer sweat. Autumn 2010 is an allure for sure.

Do I whisper that or say it with pride? With all the craziness in my life and that which bounces inside my head – I think I might yell out the window. Bring it on Mother Nature; I am as ready as I am ever going to be.

No comments:

Post a Comment