As I sat at the stoplight, with my mind a million miles away from where my body actually was a still warm breeze brought me back. Maybe that traffic signaled pause was longer than it should be; but, I was grateful for the reminder. You see that breeze launched a spray of golden leaves that fluttered past my windshield and pulled me and my busy life back to my dashboard. They were simply lovely. All shades of yellow to gold to almost copper sailing past my car as if pulled on strings by clever fairies. The autumn equinox was here. Ms.

The count down to one of Alexandria, MN’s most important seasons has already begun. At our house, the first sign is typically the line of decoys swimming out from our garage in line waiting to have their plumage repainted to their proper shade. Next come out the waders for the annual leak check and then the shell boxes for inventory control. Yep, “Camo Man” is returning to the blind. I keep any chuckles to myself. We have an ironclad autumn agreement. Stay out of his way and you will be rewarded with a winter romantic getaway.

What on earth is he laughing about? While my cubicle neighbor at work is normally a pretty happy guy who enjoys most jokes, this loud chuckle was breaking my concentration. I leaned into his doorway and said, “Stop. What is so funny?” He said, “My wife.” “Really, what is the latest?” I asked. He went on to relate the email story she had just sent. It turns out that when driving the kids to school that morning they had put on quite the radio sing-a-long.

“Have you read any good books over the summer?” Smart me using my favorite ice breaker when reconnecting with friends. She smiled and replied quickly to my question, “Yep, lots, but my favorite was The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian, have you read it?” Quick think. “No, I haven’t. Why did it appeal to you?” She went on to detail the story of two seniors off on a poignant adventure along famous Route 66. She explained that The Leisure Seeker was actually the name of their tiny camper van. Neat.

This week, two things happened at the same time to put us on a track to arrange some major couple time. First, have you noticed that the evenings are just a wee bit shorter? We did. We noticed the end of day sun was dipping deeper into our kitchen windows as we prepped dinner after work to be enjoyed outside on the deck. September is right around the corner.