August 23, 2012

White Dog and I have felt it in the early morning before dawn when the fan blowing on us makes us curl closer together. YoYoMa and Steve have felt the cool dewy dampness on the grass they run through on their jaunts. We have all noticed that the swamp cooler which is thermostat controlled is going on later in the day...if at all.

It is that 'tween seasons time here. The daytime temperatures are still in the eighties, albeit the LOW ones. Later afternoon feels heavy as the wet belly of monsoon air lays over us. Some days we get a lovely cooling rain shower; others just the press of wet air which leaves us dealing with the foreign concept of humidity.

Evenings are coy as stirring breezes and 60-degree twinkling freshness drags you out of doors. It is a time of porch sitting and lots of neighbor contact. Everyone in the area is compelled to walk their pups in the after dinner peace and gentleness.

There are signs that very soon the leaves will be changing; there is nothing grander than the display along the Rio Grande. We are seeing signs that the chile harvests are being brought in; soon the air all over town will be filled with the smell of roasting green. Then it will become Autumn with a different song altogether.

But now in the 'tween, the colors of afternoon are golden and the sunsets glow magically and the Sandia Mountains really DO look watermelon pink. Shadows are growing longer, sooner, but gracefully, and they invite you to lie down beside them and watch the clouds, touch their cool darkness, doze in a bath of shade/light.

It is a lazy lingering time. We don't want to hurry into the next season but we are glad to be past the sapping heat of summer. The White Dog Army savors this, their favorite time of year, and is thankful for the opportunities to live in the 'tween. Tonight it is 69-degrees and all of the windows stand wide open. The house feels like sheets when you first turn back the bed...cool, irresistibly inviting, and narcotic in its sweetness. The WDA naps peacefully before their bedtime Walks. In the 'tween so to speak...