September 24th, 2019

Do you know what these are?  I mean other than windows that are cracked open.  It's the first sign of Autumn!  YAYAYAYAYAYAY!  After what felt like an extraordinarily long summer, we are feeling the first indicators that the season has changed. And it is glorious.

And it's especially funny because, for a change, it actually happened on the first day of Autumn!  September 21st!   Usually it's not until sometime mid-October.  We are both surprised and delighted!  It was so nice outside on Sunday, that we walked around the house early in the day opening every single window that is open-able and let some of that outside, in.  Ahhhhhh.  

The coolness, the dryness, the freshness of new air swooping into the house and poking into all of the corners and under the sofa with the dust bunnies and through the closets was exactly what we needed. Of course by early afternoon we then walked through the house again closing all of those same windows and turning the AC back on, but that's ok.  Baby steps people, baby steps.  It was several hours of open windows and it does make a difference.   

Oh, I don't want to lead you astray, please know that it's not cool out.  It's not chilly or brisk or any other cool weather adjectives.  We are still wearing shorts and sandals, but we are not sweating and miserable while we are outside.  Sunny, yes, warm, yes but ever so much nicer.

And this wasn't the only sign of autumn. Oh no.  Not at all!   Sign two of Autumn was that we spent most of the day on one beach or another without sweating!!!!  Shocking I  know!  It was wonderful.  It was very breezy out and while the sun was warm, the wind had just the tiniest hint of coolness that woke up everything.  After being nearly somnolent in the summer heat and humidity for the past three months, the world around us came back to life.  There were more people on the beach, in the water, playing volleyball, boating, jet skiing, sea shell collecting, rather than dozing on the sand, sweat pooling beneath them on their beach towel as they fry.  It is marvelous!

We are seeing more manatees, more dolphins (I still haven't managed to get a picture but I'm always working on it, so stay tuned) and even more birds now that the seasons are beginning to shift.   The sunsets are getting more vibrant, the sand isn't burning my feet, the citrus fruits are ripening and people are more relaxed and easy going. When it's very hot and humid, people get cranky.  I am so ready to not listen to cranky people! (which is kind of cranky of me isn't it)

​And then of course, the last sure sign of autumn having arrived.  We visited :

That's right, it's Dairy Queen Blizzard season once again.  This is going to sound counter-intuitive but in absolute honesty, I never ever visit DQ during the summer here because it's just too damned hot.  What's that?  I know it sounds crazy.  But it's true.  If I order anything from Dairy Queen from July through September, unless I sit in the shop and eat it there (which is not fun - just trust me on that), instead of ice cream, my Blizzard will be soup within a block.  DQ Blizzard soup is not good.  And what's more it doesn't re-freeze very nicely.  Trust me, I have tried.   So even though any normal person would assume that summer time is DQ Blizzard time, that does not apply to Florida.

Sunday afternoon, we did a DQ drive through and I happily, slowly, savoured every bite of my Blizzard. It was ambrosia!  (For which I suffered greatly later but since I knew that would happen, it's all good.  And what's more, totally worth it!)

So there you have it.  For a change the calendar AND Florida weather (and DQ) agree that Autumn has arrived.  And not a moment too soon.