Though I live in a Mediterranean climate, I'm sensitive to seasonal changes that are more subtle than those in a Continental climate. I can detect September in the air. I'm triggered by the smell of a new package of crayons because this was the time of year when, as a school girl, I got new ones. This is the time of the year when I still pack away a few "summer" clothing items, not because they are too light to wear but because I still have a sense of what is seasonal style. I pull out a few sweaters.
As for the football season, I've never been into that sport but the sounds of the sport on the television makes for a good background hum. This is when I'm glad everyone else is watching the game because I'm able to use the kitchen without interruption. This is the time of the year when I like to cook and bake old recipes and try some new ones.
It's also the time of the year when going to the beach in the morning guarantees an overcast until at least 10 am, at which time the sun usually burns through. My hands and arms seem to be permanently tan but I no longer lay out on a towel in a swim suit hoping to absorb as many rays as possible. So the overcast is preferable.
I, my friend, and his dog, went to the beach in Long Beach, California, the southernmost part of Los Angeles County near the Orange County border, on a lazy Friday. There's a legal dog beach there called Rosies. Sometimes his dog is in the mood to socialize but she hasn't been lately, and none of us actually got our feet wet, but we looked out over the Port where cruise ships and container ships wait and to the ocean where there are a few "oil islands." When the sun did come out, we left the beach and found a spot under a shady tree. Right near where the city is building a swimming pool for the Olympics competition events that will take place there. We watched the construction for some time.
Then his old dog got into the spirit. She is old but she suddenly went running in circles - the zoomies of a puppies - and jumped up to him to show off. Clearly the ocean breeze and the shade under the tree made her happy. And that made us happy.
C 2026 Magyar American
