It’s one of the simple pleasures of life you can enjoy in late August in New England. Whether it’s feeling the night air through a screen door (as I am this very moment) and hearing the sounds of the night – traffic, crickets, air conditioners, etc., or driving with the windows down and the car stereo turned up (tonight it was The Doors’ “L.A. Woman”) down a winding, tree-lined back road, there’s a joyous feeling of nature being both vibrant and alive that you just can’t find in Arizona this time of year.

It was kind of a cloudy, humid day here – not warm by any stretch, but hardly cool either. It was late August, pure and simple. By this time of year, when the weather gets warm and humid, the bright, stinging hot days of late June and July are past – it’s as if the seasonal indicator is stuck between summer and fall – and things are just gray and muggy. Not that I’m complaining, mind you – it has been a pleasure not to have to go everywhere with sunglasses and sunblock on, and a lovely departure from the weather I’ll (God willing) be returning to tomorrow.

It’s been a lovely weather break coming here to the northeast for a week, but all good things must come to an end. This has been a sentimental visit, full of reunions, visits with friends, and just hanging loose without a lot of stress; it’s been a good thing, and I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to reaquaint myself with on a regular basis. And that doesn’t even include the close friends I never had a chance to work into my busy schedule this week. Others should be so lucky! Tomorrow it’ll be back to 110 degree weather and our 100 degree pool, but that’s OK – that’s where home is right now, and that’s where I need to be.

Thank you, New England, and thank you August – it was lovely meeting you.