^{I could go crazy on a night like tonight}

^{When summer's beginning to give up her fight}

September is both an end and a beginning

the gradual change of seasons

While others see a descent into winter, 

I have always embraced the return to school,

a reunion with school friends and routines

Evenings with you now require sweaters 

sidewalks filled with leaves and leftovers from careless bookbags

our walks after dinner are now at dusk 

The street with rows of houses with dimly lit kitchen lights, 

old streetlamps, blink on haltingly but not in unison

not yet adjusted to shorter days 

I lean into you as we get close to home

"Right, now, expect the the first ghost -- "

"Hang on a second, Marley, you can't do this ghost-of-Christmas stuff at me. I'm Jewish."

"Oh? Oh yes, I'd forgotten. Well, not to worry, we cover all major and minor holidays. We can certainly shift gears here and do the ghosts of Yom Kippur. Which, I should note, is even more relevant to the things you must do, since it is the

Coffee for the love of coffee.

"coffee is not about caffeine"
—longwinter

I'm totally down with the sentiment of this title. My first coffee these days is a pourover at around 0700, partly for the wake-up-juice and partly the ritual. The very process is making my coffee is a pleasure; the smell of the beans grinding, the artistry in setting up the brewer, even folding the filter is a vital part of the