I'M JUST NOT READY

What the ... Hey .... No.  Just noooooooooooooooooooo.

It's 7:30 p.m., and it is so dark outside that I have to turn on both the outside and the inside lights.  7:30.  Seriously.  When did that happen?  It seems like just yesterday it was summer vacation.  Okay, maybe a few days ago, but still.  7:30?  7:30. 

Depressing.

I do like the fall.  I even have a semi-fondness for the winter, although I dislike shoveling snow more and more and more and more the older I get.  I'm not ready, though.  I am not quite ready to give up summer.  I'm already back in the saddle of work, so vacation really is done.  I have to throw in the summer towel, but does Mother Nature really have to follow suit so damn quickly?

It's stormy just west of here, so I'm going to pretend that the clouds are obscuring the last of the daylight along the horizon.  It may not be scientifically accurate without fault, but I am really having a hard time with this whole "gets darker earlier" crap.

I am NOT ready.  I'm not ready, Mother Nature.  I'm not ready, Science.  I'm not ready, Earth.  I'm not ready, Autumn.  I just want a little bit more time, a little bit more daylight before November, when it's pitch-black dark by 4:45.  Sure, you'll give me September and October to get acclimated, and that's very noble of you.  I'd really like to accept your gift of six to eight weeks turnover time.

But, the truth is, I am not ready.  Not yet.  Nope, not quite yet; I'm just not ready.