Happy Autumnal Equinox! Summer is my favorite season, but fall is a close second. It is cool enough at night to justify a backyard fire, and the mosquitos have flown south for the winter. Although the Minnesota Vikings are off to an 0-2 start, Julia and I are thrilled when they achieve a first down and we get a chance to boom out our impression of the Viking’s horn. Aaaaahooooooo!

The Red River of the North has finally fallen below flood stage, the first frost has killed our tomato plants, and the forecast calls for 80 degrees and sunny. It must be time for a recap of the events of the summer! Here are the highlights: My teeth fell out. And left little stubby fangs behind. I gigged as a storyteller, once for a crowd of twenty and once for hundreds of small children. I was asked to perform three wedding ceremonies, and to attend a funeral. Busy busy busy!

Dylan is now capable of reading books to Julia, you might say it is like filling two brains with one tome. He is also dancing, playing games involving math and cooking at pbskids.org, and telling surreal knock-knock jokes.

Julia is running in parks, brushing her teeth, and speaking in full sentences between bouts of giggly gibberish. “Daddy, I need to tell you something,” she will solemnly request. “Gak-yak!” Is Julia still a baby? She will turn two years old on November 13th, and I will be forced to acknowledge what the accumulation of evidence clearly shows: the children are growing up.