I have arms wide open to fall, while my husband and son want nothing more than for summer to go on for the next "twenty years" (to quote Thor). A heavy rain came that made for much excitement around here. We ventured downtown for dinner amid flooding streets and watched the rain and lightning from the windows above the corner of Court & Liberty Streets. The pond near our house has finally filled up with water again. The ducks are once again swimming and I'm hoping to see the return of the heron soon. We awakened to the sound of geese flying above this morning, a sound I have come to love since living here. I spent Sunday in the kitchen baking bread, my sister Vicky's recipe, so good. It's getting darker earlier and I'm loving the cooler evenings, windows still open but with scented candles now burning. The white Cosmos out back glow at night with intensity, growing out of a brambly brown and dying garden bed. For some fall is the end, but for me it is the beginning. Oh yes, this is my favorite time of year.