We all know when to start breaking out the puffers and winter boots. We know when it’s time to change the thermostat setting to heat instead of air conditioning. We know when it’s time to drain the pools, put away the flowerpots and start lugging the big bags of salt into the garage to prepare for when the driveway freezes overnight. The leaves crisp up and gather around the bases of trees, waiting to be raked up and tossed away for the season. The trees prepare to be bare for a few months. The grass anticipates a nice, fluffy white blanket to cover up their green until next year.

What arrives with the first chill isn’t always tangible. Just like how nature knows when it’s time, I know too. Sometimes it’s not a loss you can name, but a slow, familiar heaviness that settles in your chest.

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