Here in New England, we have entered Transition Season.  It isn’t summer, and it isn’t fall.  I think we should call it Sall.  Or Fummer.   We wake up to crisp cool 40-degree mornings. By afternoon it can be in the 80’s.  It really is a lovely time of year, the air is clear and refreshing, the sun is bright, and everyone is getting outside as much as possible before winter hits.

However, as a typical Real Woman, I have one issue with Transition Season.  What the heck to wear every day.  Yes, I know this is trivial and silly, but am I really the only one who stands in front of her closet in the morning shivering, trying to pick out something appropriate, knowing by afternoon I’ll be stripping off layers?

Growing up in central New York State, I don’t recall there being as much of a transition season.  One day it was summer, the next day there was frost on the ground.  As kids, we could shop for back-to-school fall clothes and actually wear them for the first week of school.  Conversely, my sister in Texas generally doesn’t have to worry much about layers at this point in the year, yet when I spoke with her the other day, they were having  a cool snap too – and were even more confused than we are about whether to wear a sweater, shorts or both.

In some parts of the country like where I reside now, it can be several weeks before the seasons really shift and the temperatures settle into a normal routine.  I think my biggest challenge is foot wear.  Yes, I know, you are shocked, that ME, the shoe-addicted, does not have at least 8 pairs of transition shoes.  So each morning I debate whether or not I put on my sandals and put up with cold feet until noon, or if I must, with much despair, break out hose or socks and heavier shoes.  Invariably this gives me the urge to – you guessed it – go shopping.  Clearly I need more peep-toe pumps, or slides.  And even if it isn’t true, I start to think I don’t have enough light “Sall” jackets that are in between summer cotton and winter wool.  And naturally, wearing white and other summer colors isn’t appropriate, and I’m not ready for dark jewel tones, so there must be something just perfect out there….oh, yes, this train of thought can be dangerous.

Speaking of shopping – the other person who unknowingly suffers through Transition Season is my son.  For the past few years, I have held off on doing any fall/winter back-to-school shopping for him until, as they say, there is “frost on the pumpkin.”  My reason is simple.  If I invest in new pants and long-sleeve shirts in August, he will have outgrown them by Thanksgiving.  So there I am, the bad mom, sending him out to wait for the bus in the morning wearing shorts, tshirt, and a sweatshirt, shivering.  And I know darn well that sweatshirt will not come home – it will remain wadded up in his locker, because he won’t be needing it by the time school is out for the day. I just might have to break down and take him shopping this week …which is an activity in itself that is probably blog-post worthy.

In the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go round up the layers of clothing I have left in various places this afternoon. I’ll probably need them again in the morning.