Before The Cold Front Comes In

"It's 1:00 in the morning. What's that loud ripping sound outside?"

"Oh, that's just Simone taping up her car. She's gotta cover that broken window with plastic, you know, before the cold front comes in and brings a bunch of rain with it. And nothing holds a trash bag in place better than big strips of duct tape."

I was indeed outside at 1:00 this morning, covering up the de-electrified window of my 94 Corolla with a most sightly arrangement of plastic and tape. A display that surely warms our neighbors hearts. Just getting the old gal ready for winter, now that it's breathing down our necks. But when I stepped outside a little after midnight, it was still incredibly warm for a November night. I decided to take my old car with the broken electric window out for a spin. Since I bought my new Civic she barely gets out, and once it turns really cold it's going to be hard to talk myself into riding around wth the window stuck in the down position, just so she can stretch her legs.

So I hopped in and off we went. It was a peaceful night in suburbia. Mine was the only car on the quiet residential street, and I easily rolled up and down Lamar a few times, through street lights that turned green for me. A couple of houses still had their orange Halloween lights on, just like us. Because my window was open to the night, and because I could drive as freely and casually as I pleased, the sole moving figure on the deserted street, I felt a fleeting sense of possession of the yards and houses, demure against the shadows. Goodbye to this lovely warm autumn, to gold leaves and golden days as mild as summer. We knew it couldn't last.