fall in Florida

Fall isn't here yet, not by a long shot, but summer is beginning to show some sign of releasing its tight, sweaty grasp. There is a slight (very slight) coolness in the mornings. The temperature has dropped a couple of degrees and the humidity is down a few percentage points. It doesn't feel like Hell's entry chamber but more like Hell's front porch, with a breeze coming off the bay. This year the breeze smells like the aftermath of Red Tide.

In a few weeks I will tell my wife that there is a touch of fall in the air which only us long-time Floridians can detect because it's so subtle. She, a Michigander, will tell me to shut up. This has become an annual ritual.

I know better, because we lived in Louisville when I was a kid and I associated the name "September" with back-to-school, the smell of burning leaves in the air, and something called "Autumn." In our county, school started last month, nobody burns leaves in their back yards, and we have to drive north to find autumn foliage. Worse, we don't see cool air until Halloween, sometimes later. All we are feeling right now is the reminder that fall will be here in a month or two.