Do you remember the watercolor backdrops (particularly the skies) in the Peanuts movies? They were inky black, or cozy pink and dusky, or melancholic blue-gray and cloudless. I looked up the artist because they are so seared in my mind. They were all painted by Dean Spille, a concept and background artist. He was from California but lived in France mostly and passed away in 2021 at the age of 94. He did a perfect job of distilling a particular feeling, so much so that I have this feeling which I attribute to him each fall when I am looking at the sky that causes fifty percent less dread about shorter days (what is it-comfort? being warm when it’s cold?)

My daughter has jiu jitsu on Wednesday nights, while she is punching and grappling inside, I walk laps outside around the industrial complex while the sun is setting. Soon it will be too dark and cold, but now the sun goes down over the blocky buildings and a swamp, cornfield, empty parking lots and makes everything lit up and the few trees look like a charcoal drawing.