Birthday Weather

Ever since I was a little girl, I've looked on the change of the weather toward fall in September as my "birthday weather." With a birthday near the end of September, as the time neared for my special celebration, the weather always got nicer. With the self-centeredness of childhood, I allowed myself to think something nice was happening just to please me. Of course, I can't still consciously think that, but somewhere deep inside, I feel secretly personally pleased by the weather's improvement.

Folks "up North" might laugh, but some time in September -- whether it's the second week or later, or, when we New Orleanians are lucky, earlier -- the weather breaks, and we know it's fall. The air dries out, the temperature dips, even if just a little, and the cloudless sky is a bright, dark blue. The lower humidity makes the outside air feel sweet and light, and though these temperatures may not be considered "cool" further north, anything lower than 90 degrees feels mighty good to us. Since we in New Orleans don't get turning leaves and really chilly weather, this is what passes for the coming of autumn here. And we welcome it.

New Orleans started feeling the change this year in the first few days of September. Going out in the morning to get the newspaper or to leave for work, the air was noticeably cooler on our skin. We'd leave the a/c off in the car, rolling down the windows to enjoy and savor the sweetness. The sunlight dappling through the oak trees looks as though screened through a green filter, and instead of wilting and strained in the heat, the folks waiting for the streetcar seem cheerful and energetic. The idea of a long, long walk down Magazine Street with Big Man no longer seems like torture, but something to be eagerly looked forward to.

Of course, this being New Orleans, September doesn't mean the hot weather is completely over (it never is -- don't get me started on those Christmases where you have to turn on your a/c just to keep your Christmas tree from frying in the living room). Big Man and I still find a day hot enough to go over to my sister's and swim. It still gets hot enough that folks at outdoor festivals seek out the shade.

But we have this tantalizing hint that cooler weather, really cooler weather, is truly coming, and we love it. And for me, it always means by birthday is coming.