<a href="https://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/summers-lease-2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-5155 size-large" src="https://judythewriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/summers-lease-2.jpg?w=500" alt="Summers Lease 2" width="500" height="419" /></a>Today is the Fall Equinox and signals the official end of summer.

I know you thought Labor Day ushered out summer or the first day of school ended the carefree days of summer. Not so. Those are the traditional end of summer.

What is the fall equinox?

According to <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sarah-morgan-bryan-piatt" target="_blank">Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt</a>, a 19th century poet who lived in Ireland with her American Counsel husband:
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>It is the summer's great last heat,
It is the fall's first chill: They meet.
</em></p>
According to <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/fall-equinox-20120920" target="_blank">Weather.com</a>, "Meteorologically speaking, autumn began on Sept. 1, but the autumnal equinox marks the astronomical start to the fall season."

Being a wordsmith, I like the dictionary definition for equinox: <em><span class="oneClick-link">The</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">twice</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">yearly</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">times</span> <span class="oneClick-link">when</span> <span class="oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="oneClick-link">lengths</span> <span class="oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="oneClick-link">day</span> <span class="oneClick-link">and</span> <span class="oneClick-link">night</span> <span class="oneClick-link">are</span> <span class="oneClick-link">equal.</span> <span class="oneClick-link">At</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">equinox,</span> <span class="oneClick-link">the</span> <span style="color:#000000;">sun</span> <span class="oneClick-link">is</span> <span class="oneClick-link">directly</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">over</span> <span class="oneClick-link">the</span> <span style="color:#000000;">Earth <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">'s</span> equator</span>.</em>

I've never clocked the hours on the day an equinox occurs, but I do know that after the date marked on my calendar daylight changes. The days start to get shorter than the nights.

To me the fall equinox means we say farewell to the scent of sunscreen and welcome the smell of wood burning in the fireplace. Temperatures begin to drop and leaves change color.

The signs of change are all around us. What signs of fall are you seeing?

In my neck of the woods, leaves started turning early. Some say that means a long, cold winter. That's okay with me.

While I'll miss summer, I can't deny I'm  looking forward to a cup of green tea besides a crackling fire and huddling beneath a quilt to read.

Are you looking forward to the change of season or do you agree with Edie Melson's quote that summer is too short?