> So, my question, is (students, you may not be able to answer this neutrally), is how do you feel about the end of summer?

For Darleen, it's a big bad terrible thing. She has whatever that seasonal depression thing is: she loves the sun and her psychological health is dramatically better in the summer. The coming of fall means the coming of winter, and in New Hampshire that is not a good thing for someone who doesn't like cold and snow, not that I expect someone from Canada to be impressed with our winters.

I'm totally the opposite. I love the sun, but I would rather be freezing cold than too hot, and I like the humidity that the whole east coast gets even less than the heat. I dread the coming June and July. August is a relief, because not only does it mean a RinkUnion is around then, and a new Terry Brooks book is probably just around the corner, but autumn is almost here. Autumn in New Hampshire is my absolute favorite season/location combination, out of all the numerous diverse places I've ever lived. The temperature is usually just about perfect, and the brilliant colors of the leaves never gets old. I'm an indoor person by nature, but in autumn I crave being outside.

The fact that winter is just around the corner doesn't bother me at all. I like cold, and I love snow. I hate shovelling the stuff, but that's the end of my annoyance with it. I love how it looks when it's falling, and I love how it looks when it's on the ground. I love rolling around in it, love wading through it, love *being* in it. I think I'd like it if New Hampshire's winters were about 2-4 weeks shorter, because I'm usually more than ready for spring by the time it comes, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice an extreme winter for a shorter one.

You'll notice all of my thoughts so far have to do with weather. That's about all the impact the changing seasons has on me these days. I'm not a teacher, no longer a student, and I don't have kids in school either. Changing weather is the most that changing seasons means to me. Sometimes I miss the days when I was always doing something a little different depending on what time of year it was, but more often, including right now, I'm more grateful for the stability of a familiar, reliable routine.