Around 4:30 a.m. or 5:00 I woke up and knew I would not get back to sleep even though I did not want to get up. It was dark and I was not in my own house. I thought, I should write. But felt too tired to write. Except, it’s Sunday morning, and I had not prepared my Aim For Astonishing weekly e-mail prompt. It needed to go out. So, I practiced receptivity to ideas and inspiration. And I woke myself into the desire to share with my readers. I summoned out of drowsiness, out of blankness, some ideas. Fall Equinox, for one. That’s happening. Tomorrow. And I worked on that e-mail prompt until it was done and sent and it was naturally light and the sun outside was hot and bright, and then I went out into the blue flash blinding vista of Wellfleet Bay. I walked along the bay and a mist rolled in over the beach, enveloping me in moisture as I headed toward the green marsh. I kept waking and walking into the heat of the day and the sun returning and the realization of autumn. What a wonderful web I found strung in the long marsh grass! I returned for our meetings, we worked until around 2 p.m. and finished with hugs and the satisfied feeling of having accomplished well all we had set out to do. And then I drove home, to my husband and dogs. I wanted a swim. But thought I didn’t have the energy to head back out. Except, then I thought: summer is passing. And the pond will be only a little, tiny bit chilly, and mostly it will be lovely and refreshing. And then I had my suit on, and Frank and the dogs and I jumped in the car and went swimming. And I felt so grateful to be welcomed home, and to be feel, today, the youngest I will ever be.

The fall equinox is Monday Sept. 23, at 3:50 a.m Eastern Standard Time. At that precise moment, the sun will be directly in line with the equator.