Have you noticed there is a feeling of end of summer (called fall) in the air? August is like that. When you think about it, although the hot days we had were exceptionally uncomfortable, there weren't really all that many. If that's it for this summer, I'd say we are pretty lucky. It isn't all that bad to have the weather changing in the cooler direction again, even if it does mean we will be facing frosts, snow and eventually below-zero temperatures.  I think the older we get, the faster the seasons change - and of course the faster years slip by. When I was a kid it seemed as if summer was endless days of hayfields and sunshine. For some reason I was just now reminded of rainy days when my cousins and I played in the attic of my grandparents' farmhouse - what a wonderful place that was! And sometimes we'd run barefoot through the mud puddles in the driveway or sail pea-pod boats on them. I imagine my mother didn't appreciate that one bit. I wasn't supposed to go barefoot - too dangerous on the farm. Of course she was right, goodness knows what was in those mud puddles, but I bet none of it was good. When I was older, often my contemporaries would kid me about my long, narrow feet. I always told them it was from going barefoot on the farm - they were well fertilized.
     When the end of August came around, my cousins had to go back to the city and their schools, and I had to abandon my shorts and sneakers for skirts and shoes - even picking out new clothes for school in the Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck catalogs didn't make up for the loss of summer freedom.  I still have some of those nostalgic feelings when I catch the scent of autumn in the air or hear crickets chirping, but now it's more the dread of long, cold days and dicey driving conditions that haunts me. So August is my month to enjoy the last gasp of summer - and then settle in for the beauty of our fall.

     We had a new storm door installed this week. I really don't know why we put up so long with the original clattery metal metal door that was part of the combination door we installed some twenty years ago. It was little protection from the cold, and very noisy every time it closed.  

    When we had our cat, Woody, it was good that we could clearly hear when he lifted the rock on a string I hung on the outside of the door for him to use as a knocker. It made plenty of noise so we knew when he wanted to come in. But this spring that racket began to get on my nerves. I contacted our go-to guy, Bill Jones, who redid our deck and has done numerous other jobs for us over the years, and he came this week and put in a really nice wood-core vinyl covered door that is whisper quiet when it closes. Our basement door hasn't had a screen door or storm door of any kind, so we transferred the old door to there, and that's a perfect fit. We don't use that door often, and it serves to protect the threshold from the weather. Plus, Bill fixed some trouble spots as he went along on both doors. He's great about that - when he sees something that isn't right, he lets us know and when he leaves, whatever project we've had him do looks way better than we could have imagined, and everything works just right. 
     For the past couple of days since the doors have been finished, both Fred and I find we are using them more than ever before. I'm pretty sure Fred goes in and out just to see how nice the front door works now, and I had occasion to be in the basement looking for something yesterday and took the opportunity to open that door - so nice to have a screened door there again. I knew I missed being able to leave that door open without bugs getting in, but I just didn't know how much - or how easy it was to have Bill make that switch. Now I'll be excited when real cold weather comes so we can appreciate how nice and tight both doors are. I'm sure we'll see a big difference, especially with the front door - it's thicker, tighter and properly adjusted so there are no gaps anywhere, thanks to Bill's careful installation. Great job, Bill! Thanks!