Fall in the South

This season tends to creep up on us Southerners. One day, it feels like full-blown summer still. 87* and so humid you can't breathe. But then one morning, you realize that the air feels thinner and cleaner. And the sky looks bluer. That's when fall starts to sneak in. It may hide a few days behind the oppressive heat, or it might show its face a few times with a light breeze or a hint of coolness in the air.

But you never realize that it's actually fall until one morning, you wake up, and suddenly you realize, "Oh! There it is!"

And you're surprised to see that the leaves are changing and the pumpkins are ripening. The dew feels heavier in the morning, and fog creeps in at night.

It's like the whole South takes a sigh of relief for having made it through another stifling hot and dry summer. And it slowly relaxes itself to enjoy this respite from the heat and prepare for the quiet cool of winter.