An October day in August

It was too bad today wasn't a weekend. I woke up feeling like it was the perfect day to stay in bed with a cup of tea and a great book. It wasn't a typical August day, when I was in a hurry to get to work - and to the free air conditioning at my office! It was cloudy, rainy, dreary and cool.

Over lunch I had one of my usual summer meals, consisting of a spinach salad with tuna and a piece of Tuscan style bread. I found myself envious of my friend's lunch of chicken soup and a baked potato she bought from our caf at work. A perfect fall meal for a surprisingly fall day for the first week of August.

I was proud of us for sticking to our daily lunch routine; after eating our meals we donned our wind breakers and sneakers for a quick walk around the bay. On a lot of the spring, summer and fall days we will walk three miles at lunch. But today we left the building to a few raised eyebrows.... Our efforts on this dreary day solicited a few skeptical comments. "You girls are going out in this?" said one older gentleman who was familiar with our routine. Jill and I looked at him, and then at each other... I simply shrugged and said, "Well, it's not raining yet." I should have said, 'it is not raining at the moment' because my statement was not accurate. It had been raining off and on all day.

The pavement was wet as we walked out the door into the mist. The condensation collected on my face and I found it refreshing. We had walked about 150 yards when we saw a puddle. I watched a few raindrops ripple through the collected water and realized that it was actually raining. We took a few more steps before turning around. By the time we got back to the building the rain was steady, slowly soaking into our outer layers.

When I got back to my desk, I went to www.weather.com and entered in my zip code. I waiting as my computer churned.... wondering how cold it was outside. I shuttered when my computer monitor displayed 61°.

It was definitely the day that comes around at least once a summer, usually sometime in August. It's the day that reminds you that summer days are fleeting, and that autumn is right around the corner.