The Morning: Fall arrives tomorrow

Take a moment to pause on the threshold.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 21, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. It's still summer today, but fall arrives tomorrow. Take a minute to pause on the threshold. María Jesús Contreras Shoulder season I received the "They're back!" text from my friend Greg in Oxford, Miss., on Monday evening. "They" were the Halloween inflatables festooning his neighbor's lawn, as depicted in an accompanying photo: a jack-o'-lantern with a ghost flailing from each eye, Skeleton Medusa, two spiders the size of Volkswagen Beetles. Greg knows I'm appalled at the ever-earlier arrival of spooky-season décor. Mid-September, still summer by the astronomical calendar. I went to the website of "The Old Farmer's Almanac" for some sanity. No comfort there: "Thanksgiving Weather Forecast 2024 — With U.S. Travel Map!" the headline chirped, gleefully premature. "Who decides on the seasons," I searched, just to be a brat. I know what's happening: Tomorrow morning, at 8:44 a.m., the sun, heading southward, will cross the celestial equator. No matter what post-Labor Day stalwarts on Cape Cod told my colleague Steven Kurutz about September's being a summer month, if you're currently residing in the Northern Hemisphere, the argument's over: Tomorrow's fall. I'm relieved, at this point, to stop the charade; enough with this yearning. It was 82 degrees in New York City last weekend, but it wasn't really hot. It was a noncommittal hot, bright but withholding. When the sun went behind a building, it felt like an abandonment. I picture the months of September through December as a long slide. You're at the top at Labor Day, maybe holding on to the railing, afraid to let go of August. By the time you get to the equinox, the descent is fully underway. You're picking up momentum: Oct. 1, Halloween, Election Day, changing the clocks; buckle in, here come the holidays. You land at the end of December, with a flying leap into the new year (if you're blessed), or with a thud, in a puddle (if you're me), or you just land on your feet (a good goal for all of us). "Don't talk to me of solemn days / In autumn's time of splendor," Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote, denouncing those who would portray fall as a time of sadness and decay. I'm persuadable. Last weekend, as the sky turned pink and the sun set on an outdoor concert in Queens, I closed my eyes and tried to feel the chill enter the air, to detect the exact moment it went from short-sleeves weather to sweater weather. The threshold between one season and another, between one moment and the next, between one way of being and the next one: There's power there. If you can identify the demarcation and pause in it, you can turn your head one way and see where you've been, turn the other and see where you're going. We're doing so many things and moving so quickly that these moments usually slip by unacknowledged. We don't realize we were in portal until we've already passed through it. For more New England isn't the only place where you can see fall foliage. Lindsey Zoladz's most anticipated albums of fall. Fall fiction, nonfiction, movies and TV. I'm collecting poems that sing of the glories of this time of year. An excerpt from "Leaves" by Lloyd Schwartz: You'll be driving along depressed when suddenly a cloud will move and the sun will muscle through and ignite the hills. It may not last. Probably won't last. But for a moment the whole world comes to. Wakes up. Proves it lives. THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music Getty Images The music mogul Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, and he has been ordered to remain in jail until his trial. Read a timeline of his career and the accusations against him. Sophie, a pioneering hyperpop producer, died in 2021. The album she left behind, finished by her brother and studio manager, will be released next week. The New York Philharmonic still faces troubles as its fall season opens: It's in the middle of labor talks, still lacks a president and chief executive and is undergoing an inquiry into sexual misconduct. Film and TV The cast and crew of the show "Shogun" accepted the Emmy Award for outstanding drama series last weekend. Caroline Brehman/EPA, via Shutterstock An audience of nearly seven million watched this year's Emmy Awards ceremony, an increase for the first time in three years. Jodie Foster was among the first-time acting winners. See a list. "Wolfs," in which George Clooney and Brad Pitt play underground fixers, is one of 11 movies our critics are talking about this week. In "The Substance," starring Demi Moore, an aging starlet uses an experimental drug to create a younger version of herself. If you enjoy it, here's some other body horror to check out. Contestants in "Beast Games," a reality competition show hosted by the YouTube star MrBeast, have sued him over what they describe as dangerous filming conditions. "The West Wing" debuted 25 years ago. Aaron Sorkin, its creator, spoke to The New York Times about the current political moment. Cast members visited the real White House yesterday. Other Big Stories The gaming platform Roblox is ubiquitous among tweens. A fashion game called Dress to Impress has adults paying attention. Nelson DeMille, a prolific writer of thrillers featuring terrorist hijackings, Mafia kingpins, military malfeasance and more, died at 81. THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Election Kamala Harris in Georgia yesterday. Audra Melton for The New York Times Kamala Harris, campaigning in Atlanta, blamed Donald Trump for abortion bans across the U.S. and spoke about two women who died as a consequence of Georgia's strict abortion law. "Trump is the architect of this crisis," she said. The pro-Trump majority on Georgia's State Election Board ordered counties to hand-count ballots cast on Election Day, likely delaying results. The rule could face legal challenges. Secret Service agents failed to communicate clearly with local law enforcement before and during the July rally where a gunman shot Trump, an internal review found. Other Big Stories An Israeli airstrike on Lebanon killed a top Hezbollah commander. Lebanese officials said the bombing leveled two apartment buildings and killed at least 14 people. Israel's attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon this week — exploding pagers on Tuesday, an airstrike yesterday — mark a significant escalation of the war on its northern border, Patrick Kingsley writes. A security company formerly owned by a New York City deputy mayor got millions of dollars in city business after he began working at City Hall. The F.D.A. authorized an at-home nasal-spray flu vaccine, the first time it has approved a self-administered alternative to flu shots. AstraZeneca plans to make it available next fall. The Federal Trade Commission took legal action against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers, accusing them of inflating insulin prices to boost their profits. Canada is debating whether to exhume possible graves at former schools for Indigenous children. Right-wing activists increasingly question the graves' existence. Readers of The Morning: Don't miss out on a full year of savings. From in-depth coverage of Decision 2024 to unlimited news and analysis, Games, Cooking, The Athletic and more, subscribe now for only $1 a week for your first year. CULTURE CALENDAR By Alexis Soloski 🎬 The Wild Robot (Friday): A robot washes ashore on a lightly forested island in this technological and ecological fantasy from DreamWorks Animation. Children's films are too rare these days; memorable ones are scarcer still. But this one promises well. Written and directed by Chris Sanders ("Lilo & Stitch"), it is an adaptation of Peter Brown's stern and lyrical middle-grade novel, a meditation on community, found families and adapting to new environments. It stars the voices of Lupita Nyong'o as the title automaton and Kit Connor as the gosling she adopts. RECIPE OF THE WEEK Bryan Gardner for The New York Times By Mia Leimkuhler Gochugaru Salmon With Crispy Rice Hello! Mia Leimkuhler here, the newsletter editor for NYT Cooking. My suggestion for this weekend is a simple one: Make Eric Kim's gochugaru salmon with crispy rice. This fast, easy and (most crucially) very delicious dish was a featured recipe in our new newsletter, Dinner Tonight. "This was one of the best meals we've made in a long time," wrote Felicia, a reader. For more like it, sign up for Dinner Tonight, which arrives in your inbox every afternoon with an answer to that eternal question: What's for dinner? REAL ESTATE Dana and Tom Callahan with their 10-week-old son in Manhattan. Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times The Hunt: With their first child on the way, a couple combed the co-ops of Upper Manhattan for more space. Which home did they choose? Play our game. What you get for $600,000: A 1910 Arts and Crafts-style home in Louisville, Ky.; a 1938 bungalow in Marfa, Texas; or a circa-1900 Colonial Revival house in Farmington, Conn. Taxi TV: New York City's real estate agents are taking over a smaller screen. Rent or buy? These families had a tough decision to make. LIVING The living room of the artist collective Espace Aygo. Philippe Braquenier A creative playground: How a collective of artists turned a crumbling Brussels building into a D.I.Y. wonderland. 'Modern Love' podcast: Gillian Anderson reads an essay about a woman who becomes unintentionally celibate after a painful breakup, and she discusses a time when she felt similarly. Meet-cutes: Readers share their stories of serendipitous meetings this summer. Paris: The novelist Joyce Maynard spent a week on a riverboat on the Seine within full view of the Eiffel Tower. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER How to pick the right bedside lamp Yes, aesthetics play a crucial role in selecting a bedside lamp. But after months of testing, Wirecutter experts identified a few other necessities: A stable base is a must, as is a dimmable source of light and a shade that efficiently diffuses it. With all that in mind, we landed on nine great lamps that fit a variety of style preferences — including a cheap and reliable lamp we love and a paper lantern with heft. — Joshua Lyon GAMES OF THE WEEK Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images W.N.B.A. playoffs: It was a breakout year for the W.N.B.A — average viewership for games on ESPN nearly tripled compared with last season. Now, it's time for the playoffs. A'ja Wilson, who broke W.N.B.A. records for both scoring and rebounds this season, will try to lead the Las Vegas Aces to a third straight title. The New York Liberty are the top seed and have a shot to win their first-ever championship. And Caitlin Clark, who set a league record for assists (and broke all sorts of rookie records), has the Indiana Fever in the postseason for the first time in almost a decade. All four first-round series begin Sunday: New York Liberty vs. Atlanta Dream 1 p.m. on ESPN Connecticut Sun vs. Indiana Fever 3 p.m. on ABC Minnesota Lynx vs. Phoenix Mercury 5 p.m. on ESPN Las Vegas Aces vs. Seattle Storm 10 p.m. on ESPN NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was friction. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa P.S. The Morning's most clicked story this week was about the court testimony of a man in France accused of drugging and raping his wife and inviting dozens of men to do the same. "She didn't deserve this," he said in front of his ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, who chose to make the trial public. Read more about it. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018