TRANSITION

Summer has definitely “left the building” here in The Dalles. Cool nights and days that, although not exactly cold and rainy, are grey with mists… not quite rain but not quite sunny. What the Irish call a fine, soft day. There is a full palette of autumnal leaf litter covering the grass and obscuring the sidewalks. Flame red bushes and bright yellow saplings dot the borders of the yards and parks, a nice counterpoint to the lush, rain-watered greens of lawns and cedars. It makes for a most pleasant afternoon stroll around the neighborhoods and downtown environs while killing time and learning one’s way around. With the tang of fall in the air and a feast for the eyes everywhere around, it is enough to make you slip the memories of summer’s furnace heat and January’s howling, sleet encrusted grip.