As I launched my kayak into the Willamette early this morning, the air felt different. The sun still promised to bring heat in the encroaching hours, yet, a hint of fall was in the air. The bald eagle soaring above me shared no signal that September was near. An osprey, circling above me as if bait, before executing a perfectly timed dive to capture a small fish nearby, provided no clues about a change of season. And yet, as I took my requisite dip from the far side of Cedar Island, I knew the countdown of summer dips had begun. The few blackberries I could find that weren’t already drying on the brambles left a fermented aftertaste in my mouth.

Later in the morning it felt appropriate to read the chapter Summer from my memoir to my mom. Whether you have read it or not, no matter what else is going on in our world today, for a moment, savor summer as you listen to a page from My Music Man.