October brings visions of staining my barn jacket with warm apple cider and piles of chlorophyll-free leaves dance in my head. Worse yet, I succumb to dusting off the winter coat's Gortex liner so I can walk out to the mailbox. It all adds up to unseasonable weather that leaves the fall coat out of the cold and in the closet. Spring means unearthing the Day-Glo yellow Windbreaker from beneath the hiking boots. Fall takes turns between barn jacket, Michelin Man fleece pullover or the Adrian College football jacket a few grease stains away from banishment to the garage.
Winter is simply layer after layer.
Fall has long been that transitional season between Keds and moon boots. A time of year when you could still run around the playground without a coat - long as the recess aide didn't spot you. No wonder I begrudgingly hung up my jean jacket in the twilight of each fall. Perhaps it was latent childhood zipper fears that sent chills down my spine during last week's winter-like weather. More likely it was the freezing rain and snow soaking into my coat-less skin.