Reading: An Instance of the Fingerpost, a historical thriller about a murder in Oxford in 1663, told from four different points of view.

Listening: J.S. Bach, harpsichord concertos. Nothing later than Mozart is my motto when it comes to classical music. My favorite period is the baroque era--love that polyphony--and I'm also fond of even earlier music from the medieval and Renaissance periods.

First Day of Fall

Happy Fall! I know, I know. Autumn doesn't officially begin for another few weeks; still, I always think of September 1 as the beginning of fall, just as I think of December 1 as the first day of winter and June 1 as the first day of summer.

Autumn used to be my favorite season, and not only because my birthday is in September. I loved everything about fall. Dry leaves crunching under foot and a crispness in the air. Apples and gingersnaps. Newly purchased school supplies: long yellow pencils with clean, unused erasers at their tips; a soft, bubblegum pink eraser shaped like a flat block; a red transparent ruler and a clear plastic protractor--not that I would ever use a protractor in all my years in school--all stored in a blue, zippered pencil case.

And just when the luster of a new school year had started to tarnish--pencils stubby and gnawed and notebook pages no longer a pristine, snowy white--why, then there was Halloween to anticipate!

I've lost my fondness for autumn, now that I've now come to view it as just a prelude to winter, my least favorite time of the year. I find myself becoming more melancholy as the days get shorter, and already I'm longing for spring.

I still look forward to my birthday in September, though. Today is my sister Lori's birthday, which means that we're both the same age, 37, until my birthday on the 12th. For the first twelve or so years of our lives, the timing of our birthdays was the occasion of glee on Lori's part and exasperation on mine. She used to tease me by saying, "How old are you? Eight? I'm eight, too! We're the same age!"

The tables have turned, however, and she no longer wants to be reminded that she's almost as old as me. Sorry, Lori. And, by the way, how old are you?

Even though I'm in my late 30s, I don't mind birthdays. In fact, I get as excited as any kid as my birthday approaches. Anything that gives me a chance to go out to dinner and eat ice cream and cake is a Good Thing in my opinion.

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