Shoulder Season
Signs on shop doors read
Open weekends only
See you at Thanksgiving
Closing at 6:00 p.m.
It’s the time of year
when the body of tourists
shrugs away from Main Street,
when the strong arms of merchants
take a temporary rest.
Gray and golden, the days grow
shorter, begin and end in shadow,
and the white-topped mountains
draw their cloaks around town,
like ragged scarecrows or ghosts.
We locals can find parking places
on any street and traffic wanes
on Highway 550. At the roadside
deer stand watching us in familiar groups.
Inside our houses, we sigh deep,
breathe slower, read thicker
books and try out recipes
for soup we simmer on little-used
back burners. Down our backs
the weight of the year
begins to ease.
