Tuesday 11 August 2009

Shorter Days

I know it is August and really just the full of summer, but there are signs that things are about to change.

The long early morning light is gone. No more dawn creeping in at the edges of 4 o'clock. No more coffee in the sun at 6:00 a.m. in the dining room. At 5:30 a.m., there is just the barest breaking of night. Too soon the long days are done, and it even if it does not feel like autumn, in your heart you know it.

Unrelenting heat is for July to love, not August. No matter how hot the days get now, the longer dark means that each night the house cools. You search for sun to sit in while you cook supper on the grill and you even contemplate turning the deck heater on, but you don't. It is only August after all.


August sends signs that no matter what, Canada is a country of sweater weather. Its hard to get through a twenty-four hour period without wishing you had a cap, or if its is handy, flipping up your hood. It might be just for a moment but the impulse is there and as often as not, the impulse is followed by action, even if you don't really need it. No sense getting chilled.

Knitters everywhere are shifting to warm and cozy knitting. Mittens are on knitters minds and gloves, scarves, and winter hats aren't too far behind. Socks are no longer wanted, they are needed. Vests call out, 'make me now, don't hesitate'. It's the time for serious knitting, staying warm knitting, heavy thick wool knitting.

The instinct is tied to the season, an ancient need to prepare for the long cold that is coming. It is a need as old as humanity itself. The urge to finish, the rush to pack away, to stock up is in the air.

Finish, finish, move , rush, not enough hours.