I try to live my life void of time constraints. I don’t wear a watch, and I’m perpetually in a rush and am nearly always late for everything. I’m not proud of this, and it’s always something I try to improve, but it somehow makes me less anxious, not knowing what time of day it is.

But here we are, in September. I woke up this morning and noticed that the 9am light was a little different– there was a low orange tint that reflected off the building outside my window that hadn’t been there just a week ago. Yes, we are all bound by time, the minutes, the months– and even though I refuse to wear a watch, the seasons change in a flash, without any warning.

Autumn is absolutely my favorite time of the year. September, they tell me, is the warmest month in the Bay Area, and even in New York, remnants of summer still linger. But time does not lie, and that orange glow I saw this morning was simply not imagined. We’re in September. Time to put away your white linen pants. Fall is coming.

The theme this month is The R. R, as in rainbows and red; ruffage, rice and Rashomon. I lived off the R train for years in Brooklyn. But really, the theme celebrates the start of the “R” months, where according to heresay, it’s the best time to eat oysters (they say that it is safe to consume oysters during any month containing the letter R). Even though oysters are mostly farmed now, making them ok to enjoy year-round, I’m still a bit superstitious and look forward to the R months, September thru April.

As always, I’m not really sure where this theme will take us, but let’s go with it. Here come the Rs!