Weather is improving...

This is how different the South is to everything my life in Europe got me used to. Only a few months ago the phrase 'weather is improving' would mean one thing to me: it is getting warmer! In Atlanta, though, it is exactly the opposite. September here is nothing short of delightful. With the cooler air, still warm and even hot during the day, and the humidity which finally reached tolerable proportions, we can spend most of our days outside without fear of being boiled (or steamed...?) alive. Oh, how delightful the mornings are on our deck, with gentle breeze, chirping birds, the green wilderness behind our fence... And afternoons are also full of attractions: just watching the completely mad squirrels chasing one another up and down the tall pine and oak trees which surround our house could take one's attention for a while. Add a glass of wine (or water for those of us who do not do alcohol) and some jazz, and you are in Southern heaven my friend.
And did I mention Atlanta itself, and even our little Decatur? The place is coming to life. It is as if it suddenly became populated again. 'So there are people inside these buildings...', I think to myself when driving by the now colourful and lively streets of Decatur, Midtown, or Virginia Highlands. The cultural events are so plentiful that one would need a group of assistants to attend them all. Just a few examples of what the people of Atlanta have been up to:

• The Decatur Book Festival in early September, which is apparently the largest independent book festival in the country, with the opening speech by Jonathan Franzen - author of 'The Corrections' and now also 'Freedom', and plenty of events: book fairs and meetings. The organisers seem to have wanted to cover as many aspects of literary work as possible, even including the previously unexplored aspects of language and literature: the first Experimental Writers Asylum. Overall - impressive event.
• The Midtown Art Festival, with artist markets, art auctions, live concerts, and lots of beer and wine, and food of course.

Zombie walks, runs, culinary celebrations,... Exhausting, this Atlanta life.