The Morning: Golden Hour
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2025-08-30 12:06
Good morning. This weekend marks summer’s unofficial end — but that doesn’t have to mean abandoning the season’s many splendors.
Golden hourLabor Day arrives as early as it can this year, like the teacher’s pet impatient to break out the new school supplies. For those of us who believe there is an even sweeter, even more perfect ear of corn yet to be consumed, the holiday’s hasty entrance seems a little unfair. Cling as we might to the still respectably late sunset (7:28 p.m. Eastern on Monday), point as we might to the mosquitoes that are hardly done making their meal of us, Labor Day comes striding in. “Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach,” it sings, a twisted burial hymn. I urge you not to give up summer so readily. While it’s true that clinging to a thing or a time or a season is folly, I remind you that there are currently 23 days before fall begins on Sept. 22. I’ve been trying for a while to make the term “equinoctials” catch on as a name for those of us who believe the almanac decides when summer ends, not the purveyors of pumpkin spice everything. If I were an Instagram influencer, I’d create the #equinoctialchallenge: Do one defiantly summer-specific thing every day between Labor Day and the equinox. Go to the beach. Eat a tomato sandwich, using the kitchen sink as your plate. Pick berries. Wade in a creek. (What creek? Find a creek!) Don’t let Monday be the last time this year you throw a barbecue with all your neighbors. (Well, maybe not the ones who refuse to pick up after their dog, but most of them are fun enough.) Yes, school is back in session or will be soon, and this might mean you’re required to concern yourself with fall’s business sooner than you’d like. Yes, it was 51 degrees last night; you considered building a fire. But these three weeks and change before summer’s official end can be a soft and gradual landing, a time of easing in and easing out. Deliberately do the things you won’t be able to once it’s cold out and dark early. Take some time to contemplate the things you like about your summer self — the way you hurry less, or how you eat more fresh vegetables — and consider how you can maintain these things into the fall. Let me be clear that the cold months have much to recommend them — I too have leaf-peeped and pumpkin-picked — but they don’t encourage the same lingering mind-set, the same unclenched openness as a day boasting double-digit hours of sunshine. The other night, dining outside under the stars, it was impossible to ignore how loud the cicadas have become. Cicadas live underground for years and then emerge for just a few weeks to mate before they die. Late August, early September, the males’ buzzing becomes increasingly desperate. We don’t need to act with such urgency; our lives will continue after the first frost. But the cicadas’ urgent chorus acts as a reminder. The season isn’t over, but it is winding down. Dwell in it as abundantly as you can, while you can.
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? Thursday Murder Club (Out now): In the mood for something quaint? Look no further. This Netflix movie, based on a book of the same name, follows a group of British seniors who solve murders from their retirement home. The film stars Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, but it’s not the star power that has fans excited — people really love the “Thursday Murder Club” book series. In the last few years, I have, on more than one occasion, turned to a companion on vacation and found them rifling through the pages of one of the books. I also want to shout out the author here: Richard Osman, a British television executive-turned-national treasure who hosts maybe my favorite BBC quiz show, “Richard Osman’s House of Games.” (If you have trouble falling asleep, seek out episodes on YouTube; they’re quiet and charming.) Check out our review of the movie.
Tajín Grilled ChickenPerfect for Labor Day weekend barbecues and beyond, Rick Martinez’s Tajín grilled chicken harnesses the chile-lime magic of the Mexican spice blend. Its tangy heat gets a sweet counterpoint from agave syrup, while smoky chipotles deepen the flavors. Serve it on its own or tuck the shredded meat into buns with mayo, scallions and pickled jalapeños.
The Hunt: A woman returned to Brooklyn with $300,000 and a dream. Which home did she choose? Play our game. What you get for $1.2 million: A two-story brick house in Salt Lake City; a midcentury-modern house in Tucson, Ariz.; or a 1924 neo-Classical Revival house in Richmond, Va.
Bad Bitch Book Club: A group of women who met in an online book club traveled to Maine to read together. It was oddly moving. 36 Hours in Portland, Ore.: Scale an extinct volcano, visit the city’s largest farmers’ market and enjoy elevated Haitian cuisine. Look of the week: Packing a punch in primary colors. Homemaking: How to build a house, according to four people who actually did it.
Back-to-school shopping is for adults, tooThe year is 1996, and I’m in Staples — no limits, no budget and no parents in sight. My cart is loaded with slabs of loose-leaf paper, packs of unsharpened pencils, a row of yet-to-dessicate markers. There’s no subject I can’t conquer, no friend group I can’t infiltrate, no style trend I can’t master. I unhitch one strap of my overalls. There is nothing I can’t achieve. In all the days since, through life’s small and large moments, I’ve yet to top the feeling of optimism that comes with back-to-school shopping. I haven’t matriculated in decades, but I still treat September as a time to reset. I’ve found thoughtfully treating myself to a great grown-up school supply helps cultivate some of the hopefulness I felt in those Staples aisles. — Hannah Morrill
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 3 Ohio State, college football: Not many teams begin their season with a potential national title matchup. Ohio State won it all last year and returns a lot of talent, including wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a Heisman Trophy front-runner who tops this year’s Freaks List, an annual ranking of the sport’s best athletes. Texas, which has reached the semifinals the past two seasons, now has Arch Manning (yes, one of those Mannings) as its starting quarterback. The Longhorns’ championship dreams will be put to the test immediately: As The Athletic notes, they’re the first top-ranked team in modern college football to open the season as an underdog. Today at 12 p.m. Eastern on Fox.
Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were uncocked, uncooked and undocked. 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. Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter said the administration had fired some FEMA workers who signed a letter about the agency’s problems. It put them on leave. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com.
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