Labor Day weekend has been very hot and sunny in SE Michigan. As always, I look forward to the cooler days of fall, and am ready to put the summer behind me. I love Michigan summers and they have to be valued and spent wisely, but Labor Day feels like the real New Year. I’m prepared for shorter, darker days with a more rigid routine of school for the kid and work for me, with more office days per week.
The kiddo and I hit the outlets for some shopping on Friday, and having some new clothes made me conscious of the stagnant energy in my closets. So after a day of pounding the outlet pavements, I came home and filled six bags of donation clothes, shoes, bedding and linens. Goodbye dusty ankle boots that in pre-pandemic days, I wore to work with trousers that are now too small. Goodbye too-tight sweaters and summer tops that don’t spark joy. It made me super happy to hang up some nice new things in my closet and see the empty shelf space.
Brandon & I met up with his cousin for drinks at the brewery downtown. We went to the nursery where we bought a gorgeous new azure blue pottery planter for the patio, half off, and fall plants for the containers on the porch. We ordered a couple of full size skeletons to sit on the porch for Halloween and I pulled my basil plants and dried the leaves & flowers. I spent time on the porch reading until it just got too hot and we watched the Vuelta de Espana (one of the professional cycling grand tours). We talked about fall bucket lists that include trips to the orchard and the Renaissance Festival.
It’s going to be record breaking hot today. The porch and patio are scorching hot and the hummingbird feeder is attracting all of the angry bees who, unlike me, aren’t looking forward to the change of seasons. I don’t want to go to the crowded pool for the last day festivities and instead, am planning a day on the couch in pajamas, napping and reading, and getting ready for the week (and the fall) ahead.