The US Open represents a microcosm of summer
It starts warm, even hot, humid, inflicting sunburns eliciting sweat
parching throats; then midway through changes subtly, a breeze whips around the courts, the air is sharper, sweat marks less visible on all the players
And as we near its end, night seems to come quicker to the first evening match, sweaters are in evidence, the humidity gone, the skyline coming out of its haze 
Summer was short this year. It showed up first in April and then disappeared until early July as June vied for the second rainiest month in history with cool temperatures. We did not even reach a 90 degree day until July.
Liam
loves the warmth of the sun in the backyard 
and got his last licks last week-soaking up the heat during the 
first week of the US Open. We were at the Open one day, Thursday, September 3. Only players' dogs are permitted and we are not tennis players merely fans, so Liam stayed home and watched on ESPN2.The impatiens that began as tiny inch-high plants in May have now reached 3 feet or higher in some places
I am sorry for them because just as they have achieved their full potential, we are ready to move on. They will easily live until first frost, however everyone is eager to embrace the coolness and vibrant colors of fall. The popular fall flowers are mums. Mums
are displacing the impatiens or coexisting temporally. They will be ubiquitous by October. An uneasy transitional alliance exists between the two for now.We were in NYC on Labor Day Sunday and in late afternoon a sudden coolness swept though the city. Tall skyscrapers and slanting sun rays can slyly deliver a shock in September and they did. Amidst the flip flops, ballet slippers, and crocs were several precocious women sporting Uggs with shorts and tank tops. I thought of two seasons together, tanks/shorts and Uggs. A temporary alliance in dress, sort of like impatiens and mums in nature.
This Wednesday I entered an empty nail salon. What! another loss, someone else has moved on? No, actually the customers have moved into their fall routine. Few clients get pedicures in the fall and winter; feet are hidden away until the spring. Only one manicure is in progress, and it is moving at a fast pace to its conclusion; clip, file, paint, dry, goodbye.
I am left alone with the staff watching Rachael Ray.
BTW, I get pedicures all year as does Liam. Nails grow and paws
need tending in the fall and winter as well as in the spring and summer.Liam's night walks have quickly slipped into darkness
during these last two weeks. Why does it seem to take so long to reach the longest day of the year in June? In July and August days shorten almost imperceptibly until the US Open begins. Then each day of the Open we lose 5 minutes a night
until the late afternoon match is played with long shadows under the Halloween-like moon 
The rabbits, squirrels and other dogs are just shadows during Paul and Liam's night walks. However, Liam's lust for them has been replaced by a delight in picking up acorns and broken twigs along the way
He then drops his treasures in every room upon his return to the house. We find them all over and they present a precarious danger to us as we walk around the house. Outside the acorns are falling so fast and in such numbers that a helmet might be the headgear of choice in New Hyde Park in the upcoming weeks.Today, Thursday, September 10, we have 60 degree temperatures, a whipping wind, cloudy skies, slits of sun. Liam is not about to flop down to catch some rays.
The sky has racing clouds
the wind chimes are clanging like church bells, no gentle tinkling. The trees are swaying, shooting acorns off like bullets. Watch out. The sky keeps changing.There are fall days that weather folks term "perfect days. A dear friend and I call them 9/11 days and we message each other when one occurs.
"Hi, my friend, 9/11 day, you think? "
Almost never is, but sometimes it is, and it is a visceral reaction for us and we share it.
Days so still, so clear, so brilliant, that your eyes hurt to look around, and one must squint to look up at the sky, hoping to see just an empty sky-or only what belongs there, a plane on an innocent journey
not on the mission we witnessed 8 years ago
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 was that "perfect" fall day. The day before was muggy, with humid heavy air, punctuated by a massive early evening thunderstorm storm. We were on our way to meet friends at a 50th birthday celebration and no sudden violent storm was going to stop us.
The unsettled weather of that evening produced a perfect fall day for Tuesday September 11, 2001.
Friday, September 11, 2009 will be 8 years since that brilliant clear blue-sky cloudless day.
I woke up this morning
I could barely breathe
Just an empty impression
the bed where you used to be
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for a eye
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty Sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky.
lyrics/Bruce Springsteen
Woof, Woof
Aroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
