The light changed this week. The sun that sucks streams bone dry breaks for November rain. School children don’t have to eat their breakfast in the dark anymore. I spied a flock of geese flying across my neighborhood looking for a place to spend the night as they headed south. Fall back, spring forward.
That’s how time moves for us. All the cities and little towns in Texas pulled down their shades and rolled up their streets an hour early last Sunday. Everyone across the Americas fell back one hour for Central Standard Time.
The World Series is over and baseball is left to the boardrooms for contract negotiations. Long days where the blue summer sky lingers over pools like Barton Springs, Big Stacy, and the High Road on Dawson ’til almost 9pm are long gone. The boys of summer have all gone home.
Now, it’s dark when we amble to our cars and bus stops for the drive home after work or after school. Bonfires begin to dot the long nights. People have started stocking up on port and rye, and stay inside more. Hibernate.
Holidays grow close and the smells of winter emerge. We remember our loved loves that have passed along the busy highway of life. There’s something about the dimming of daylight that brings out memories. Moonlight lights reminisces.
We’ll be going about our business in the dark until daylight savings in March. While that can feel like a month of Sundays, Central Texas remains fortunate in that regard because it starts to get lighter earlier here than it does in other parts of the USA. We nod to the light change that’s descended over the violet crown of Austin with our Because the Night Spotify playlist.
This article appears in November 10 • 2017.