On Footy Pajamas

Sometime between the first day of October and today, autumn became a reality. I can't pinpoint the moment; it probably came in the night, sneaking past the sun's sleepy defenses. I only know that one day it was hot and feverish, reaching temperatures which, when found inside the human body, mark the ruthless biological defense of self-immolation (to fight off invaders, our bodies deliberately burn themselves up). The next day, it was as though the earth's fever had broken, and a wisp of cool air brushed past my cheek. For a moment, I'd have thought I was mistaken. It was only a hallucination, a phantom memory teasing my senses. But then there was another touch on my skin, gentle and sweet like a cool cloth on a burn.

Of course, this is still California. The sun isn't going to go away. But soon we'll have days to remind me of the ones Charles Dickens described, days when "the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." Winter might still be a stretch here in Orange County . . . but I'll take what I can get.

Which brings me to my point: Addison can now wear her cozy footy pajamas. We had to pack them away in April, when it got too hot for her to wear them to bed. Before long, we were putting her down to sleep in nothing but her diaper, and she'd still be drenched in sweat.

But! 

Addison, before the summer

October is here! It's a month of transitions, from summer to fall, from nudity to footy pajamas, from irritable sweatiness to snuggling playfulness. It was Pascal who said, "Cold is agreeable, that we may get warm." Is there anything better than being chilled such that the best warmth you can find is from another human's body? It's hard not to wrap this little leopard-spotted toddler up in my arms every time I see her. And when I lay next to my wife, there need be no space between us.

October, thanks for starting us into a season where each embrace gives a little more warmth to insulate us from the cold that surrounds us.