I don’t think summer is over for good. I hope not, but I can tell you that I don’t mind the cooler days we’ve been having lately. It’s a little depressing to get up to a heavy morning cloud cover, but when the overcast burns off and it’s still mild out there, I can live with that.

It’s been a lot easier getting back into the habit of walking every day since the weather turned fall-like. So far “every day” consists of two of the last three days, but that’s better than not-walking every day, which is what I’ve been not-doing all summer. If I’m going to get healthy, exercise is probably an even bigger part of the plan than nutrition.

It’s cool enough at night to sleep comfortably. That doesn’t mean I do sleep, but at least I’m comfortable in my insomnia. I could sleep comfortably, if I could sleep at all. It actually eliminates one of my best excuses for not sleeping, but I think I’m past excuses by this point. I sleep badly, period.

Every evening as the shadows start to get long, a quail appears in my garden, seemingly out of nowhere. It struts around a bit and then disappears just as quickly. Yesterday I had two quail, both perched in the dead birch tree, but most of the time — just about every day for the last week or more, in fact — it’s just been the one. I don’t know if the change in the weather has anything to do with it, but that’s when the visits started. It’s a nice way to end the day.

I still like hot weather best, don’t get me wrong. I hope it’s not over. In fact, I’m sure it’s not over, because September and early October are traditionally the hottest times of the year around here. But until those Indian summer days arrive, I’m taking advantage of the slight chill to do a few things the sweltering heat prevents. Not including yard work yet, but maybe I’ll start tomorrow on that. If it’s not too hot.