Fall Begins

Fall is the perfect time for ruminations of the past - the winding down of the year, the gradual glide into Winter and all of its finality - time to look over your shoulder and see what has been and chart your satisfactions and regrets.

Nobody does it better than James Lileks so why even try? Here he's at his best when he details this year's neighborhood fair:

No face painting this time; no silly games where you get plastic flotsam. Off with friends, into the dark. Love and laughter are like water; you need them to live. And they run through your fingers no matter how tightly you cup your hands.

The shadows lengthen, the days start later and give it up earlier. What was all that fuss about the hot summer, you wonder. Too early to look towards the next one; we'll still have Winter and all of its pleasures to get through and then Spring. But Summer's had its say. Time to listen to Fall.