Friday, September 23, 2011

Torn Between Two Seasons

    There's a whisper of Fall in the air.       ~Just a whisper.~       The air is still infused with Summer humidity.  The breeze is still filled with myriad various butterflies and dragonflies dancing on the wing from Petunia to Buddleia to Lantana.  They look as though they are unaware that Autumn is about to pounce.
     Kids are back to school.  Leaves are crisp and falling.  Many new and some old familiar varieties of apples are beginning to appear at the market.  An early crop of pumpkins and colorful, twisty, warted gourds are making their debut as well.  Thoughts of weeding garden beds and planting perennials have turned to choosing Autumn bulbs and raking leaves.
     The rainy season has arrived, yet sometimes its hard to tell if those storm clouds are ahead of a Summer tropical system or a Fall cold front.  Just stick your head out the door or your nose out the nearest window to become your own meteorologist.  You'll probably do as well as they do!  Raincoat?, thongs?, sweater?, boots?  Open the windows - close the windows... air conditioning, ...not!  Its warm then cool, its humid then dry, its windy then still.  Give it a minute... it'll change!  On second thought, better listen to the professionals!
     Cuckoos have not yet arrived to dine on Tent Caterpillars and immature Cardinals are patchwork quilts of brown, red and olive.  Camellia buds are receiving their innate messages to get ready for the big show.  Some summer shrubs are still sleepily shooting small but persistent blooms.  Few vegetable garden plants remain, giving their gifts of love.  No one told them to stop!  So, the Basil continues on, and on and shares a bed with a now shriveled vine of plump beige-y Butternut squash.
     Yes, there's a whisper of Fall and a thunder bolt of Summer.  Then a whiff of crushed Autumn leaves and a beautiful flutter of Eastern Black Swallowtail wings.  The Catbirds and possibly the Hummingbirds have left and its time for the Northern Robins to start travelling through on their way back up North.
     Confused?  I think not.  Perhaps oblivious.  Most people do not even notice the changing of seasons.  It is definitely more of a blending than a change.  My advise... enjoy the dichotomy.  Savor the gifts of both.  In fact, savor every minute, every delicious second of the time you spend out in Nature. 

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Early Morning, Late Summer

    There is a time in late Summer mornings when the sounds and sights and scents are intoxicating.  When the sun peaks through the masque of shattered shade and illuminates tenacious Impatiens, the effect is stunning!  Multi-colored threads of spiderwebs glisten in the dappled sunlight like oil in puddles of
Summer air.

  Starlings gather in the treetops above to discuss the day's itinerary.  In a whoosh of wingbeats they are on their way.  Cicadas are chattering, dragon and damselflies begin their day and crickets are marking their metered music.  Bullfrogs are quieting and settling in to their hollows and insects are hurrying by trying to
avoid them.  Every living thing seems determined and purposeful as it begins the day.

  The sweet scent of some unseen flowers mingles with the earthy smell of cedar and fresh-fallen leaves.  I am overcome as my nose tries to sort them out.  My lungs drawing in more and more as if I couldn't exhale and try again!  Something green, something musty, floral, spicy- the incense of  Nature.
 
  There is a time in late Summer mornings when the breeze is delicious and the birds are too busy to be afraid of you.  When you are "glowing" with the power of appreciation of the surrounding beauty,  you pose no threat to them.  This must be communicated to them because they are all instinct and senses we do not yet understand.  Chickadees are chick-a-dee-dee-ing and Hummingbirds are humming their happy morning song.  Even the yard bunny is otherwise engaged with her breakfast.

  There's a coolness in the air before the sun takes over.  Today the clouds are ever-changing pouffs of every possible cloudy hue.  From brilliant white to deep blue-grey they billow and undulate as they hurry on their way.  Are they going somewhere to wreak havoc and are we just not privy to the joke?
      
   I allow the breeze to blow through me and clear the cobwebs out of my mind.  In a peaceful moment such as this, one can gather one's thoughts and commune with whatever percieved Spirit dwells within.  Perhaps we can hear the plan for our day whispered on the breeze or hidden in the chirps and chatters that fill the
early morning air.

  There is a time in late Summer mornings when one can become enchanted by the launching of Life and the begining of a new day.