well, it's fall

[laconia]

Image description: My feet, in monk-strap spectator shoes (cognac and navy blue), with brogue detailing and fringe on the vamp, against a navy blue rug with turquoise floral border.

Last week we still had summer temperatures during the day. Monday and Tuesday, I wore cute summer dresses (retro ones in bright Madras plaid, with full skirts) and sandals. Wednesday I wore linen-cotton capris and a sleeveless blouse, and I needed a sweater in the morning and evening. Thursday I wore lightweight denim trousers and a sweater over a tank top. Friday I wore jeans and a t-shirt, with a lightweight flannel shirt in the morning and evening. I wore sandals every day except on Thursday, when it was cool enough to wear my cute driving moccasins. (They're green!)

We've had a fire weather watch since Saturday--dry conditions with high wind. Saturday was rather warm in the afternoon; I think we reached 80* F. Yesterday at most reached the 70s, and I was actually uncomfortably cool from about 5 p.m. onward. Usually the driving moccasins are perfect this time of year, when it's too cool in the mornings for sandals to be super comfortable but it's too warm during the day for a closed shoe. But I think that I'd have been a lot more comfortable if I'd swapped them for my fake shearling slippers after dinner!

Today we're forecast 74* F but I don't expect that we'll actually reach that high. It's 58* F out there now, with wind speeds around 18 mph and gusts at 25 mph. The winds are north-northwest...huh, I guess I can relevantly say that at this particular moment I, unlike Hamlet, know a hawk from a hand-saw.[1] [2] Anyway it's nasty out there and quite chilly inside. I'm wearing full-length trousers, a 3/4 sleeve blouse over a tank top, and a reasonably heavy sweater. I started out wearing driving moccasins but my ankles were freezing, so I changed to actual shoes with trouser socks. Summer is officially over.

Yes, of course the equinox was September 23 (give or take), but 2020 is shaping up to be one of the hottest years on record so far. The normal weather pattern here used to be that temperatures would reach the 80s for a couple hours in the afternoon, and from time to time we could even have temperatures in the 90s. When I did the seasonal wardrobe migration each year, I used to keep one or two outfits for warm weather in rotation until October. But most of the time I didn't end up wearing them! This year I held back a bunch of outfits that are good for spring or a warm fall, and I wore lots of them. 

So here we are, October almost over, and only now have we reached that awkward time of year when it's dark and cold in the morning, so I want a parka, but it's going to be a warm afternoon, so full-length trousers and shoes might be too warm.

The perfect answer is sometimes a short-sleeved dress with nylons, pumps, and a sweater...but I don't like nylons even when I think wearing them is worth the trouble, and since work-from-home my metric for "worth the trouble" is a lot stricter. All the clothes I have that aren't effortless to wear, are dry-clean only, or take a lot of effort to iron, have stayed in the closet since March. I'm maintaining certain standards. I spent the first two or three weeks of work-from-home living in jeans and t-shirts but that got depressing. After that I started wearing regular clothes, and it's been much easier to cope knowing that I have a super-cute outfit and makeup on.

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[1] One of my professors who specialized in the Shakesperean canon and Elizabethan drama told us that "hawk" was actually jargon for a type of handsaw...I can't find anything on etymonline to corroborate this--mostly because "handsaw" isn't included in the database!--which is really disappointing.
[2] Also unlike Hamlet, I am neither Danish, male, nor being haunted by the vengeful specter of my murdered father.