It's quite the challenge, since we're such creatures of habit, to become accustomed to changes which though they are inevitable and we face them year after year, for us to feel comfortable with even minor alterations in the way we ordinarily, daily, do things that matter to us. The change is a gradual one, and certainly expected, since we've experienced it all of our lives, but it seems to us while it is in progress, to be abrupt, unexpected and certainly inconvenient.

The matter at hand, of course, is the change in season from late summer to fall. It is incremental, the change, with many instances of reversion of a temporary nature, but finally it hits; the days shorter, fewer sunlit hours, dusk creeping in much sooner than we would like it to, and both day and night turning colder with threat of frost during nighttime hours. More rain, more tempestuous wind, and more inconvenience.

Certainly more work, since with the shift into a cooler atmosphere beginning to prevail we must tend to countering that shift; we begin to dress differently, we begin to warm our homes, we can no longer venture out-of-doors as casually as we did in summer, we think of winterizing our garden, hauling in outdoor furniture. And for us, dressing ourselves and our puppies against damp, cold and wind, foregoing the spontaneity that had been the hallmark of our summer forays into the ravine to traipse along forest trails, enjoying our opportunity to bask in nature's embrace.

It almost seems, viewing it from the perspective of Jackie and Jillie, that they take these changes in stride and barely seem to notice the difference, whereas we feel impacted by it. They did react slightly the first time we clothed them in light jackets, then simply began taking it for granted that this would happen henceforth, forging our way outdoors.

Because they're quite small and fairly delicate in physiognomy and they have had their hair shorn, exposure to too-cool environments tells on them, and so for now until late spring returns they'll be wearing a succession of cold-protective garments.

And so will we.