Goodbye Summer

There has been a definite shift here in the Pacific Northwest.  It's not just the clouds and their omnipresence, nor the drizzly raindrops that are once again falling, accumulating on sidewalks and streaking windowpanes.  There's also a smell. An Earthy musk that stands to remind of fall's inevitability.

Even here in the city the scent of autumn is swirling through the air and hinting at sweaters and scarves and wooly things.  This time of year gives me butterflies in my stomach.  I can feel a sense of transition in the air around me that no other change of seasons brings.  With the equinox approaching, I prepare myself to hunker down for the cold, wet winter that's lurking in the shadows of summer's memories.

My summer ended on two excellent notes.  First, my mom and my Aunt Mary came to visit from the Midwest.  It was fun to play tourist for a week, to see my city through the eyes of newcomers, and to have the good fortune to eat many delicious meals.  We had a sort of mini culinary tour of the city.  Our favorite neighborhood restaurants (Araya's & The Bengal Tiger), some new places we'd never eaten at before (Poppy & Toulouse Petite), farmers markets, home-cooked meals... All I could think about was what we'd eat next.