August... summer's winding down

The days are beginning to shorten... it's getting dark ever so slightly earlier... school starts back in just days... it's August and autumn is peeking in from just around the corner...

Temperatures are still in the 90s during the day and it still doesn't cool off much at night... but there's a feeling in the air... can't quite put my finger on it... a slight lessening of the usual summer humidity? but only slight... it's still hot and muggy here in the South... but there's something... that sweet melancholy air that comes with the fall season.

I find myself without much incentive in this end-of-summer air... my mind tends to move slowly and I go from air conditioned house, to air conditioned car, to air conditioned office and back again with the shortest of possible blasts from the steamy-hot air outside. I wilt terribly in the summer heat these days... wonder how we did it as kids? We played outside from daybreak till dusk most days and never wilted like I do now, never gave it a thought unless Daddy was making us do yard work or weed the garden... air conditioning has spoiled me I think! Even the shade is stifling.

But autumn is just around the corner... I can feel it in the air... somehow...

In anticipation of crisper days and lower humidity levels, I anticipate my ambition will return... we are planning to try selling our soaps at a few autumn festivals this year... I am excited about the "line-up" but anxious just the same... we know our product is good, our soap is wonderful... but still I worry that somehow we're not marketing things properly or people just don't understand the effort and care  and research we put into our bath products. How do we tell them that we choose not to add artificial fragrances or colorants for good reason, it's better for our skin! How do we make them understand? Is the "public" so enamored of bright colors and sweet scents that they don't care? Our soap smells wonderful, scented with essential oils chosen for their natural-ness and their benefits to the skin, and their beautiful, true smell. Our soap is generally creamy white, or creamy tan or brown or honey colored or sometimes pale yellow... but never bright intense colors and never blue or purple or hot pink! How can we make them understand?

August... back to school for students... and back to soaping for us... as autumn peers quietly through the muggy heat...