Kühl Moonbeam 1/4 Zip : Perfect for Indian Summer Nights

"It's designed to break your heart," former Baseball Commissioner A. Barlett Giamatti said of the national pastime, but it's also true of summer itself.

"The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains comes, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone." This mournful feeling hit me hard at the end of a languorous last week in August. I was on the coast of Maine, where my family and I kayaked, walked along the gorgeous, rocky coast with our ball-obsessed dog, Sylvie, and, of course, chowed down on blueberry pancakes and fresh seafood (not in the same meal). But transitions are tough - think birth, middle age and jet lag - and with the morning and evening temps hovering in the fifties, I couldn't help but dread the bundled-up days that beckoned.

I refused to put on long pants, but I did don my lightweight, butter-soft Moonbeam ¼ Zip top. I was instantly warmer, and I felt fortified in that visceral, first-slug-of-hot-coffee-in-the-morning way. The Moonbeam nearly mandates you sigh when you slip it over your head: it's incredibly comfortable and offers great insulation. Better yet, it weighs next to nothing.

This fall, the Moonbeam will be my first line of defense - emotional and physical - against the onslaught of cold, short windy days.

Bottom Line: Lightweight, extremely comfortable, stylish with heathered accents on the collar, arms and shoulders; a good way, as the poet said, to rage against the dying of the [summer] light.--J.G. (Sept. '06)

Price: $68

Manufacturer's Site: www.alfwear.com

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