Sunday, August 31, 2008

The Long Fall Slant


As summer wanes, the sun's track is lower and lower in the sky, and its rays slant across the landscape, backlighting flowers and turning spider webs to gossamer gold, while deepening shadows bring an underlying sense of solemnity and of ending. The bees buzz more lazily, the flitting swallowtail butterflies are starting to look a bit tattered, and locusts drone mechanically from the dense treetops.
Yet the trees are also host to flocks of young birds; finches and chickadees, vireos and comically entertaining small woodpeckers... it is a season of excitement and noisy sociality for them, though they become quieter as the barred owls clear their throats in the waning afternoon and begin to cackle and to call to each other from their leafy perches:
Who, Who, Who are you ?
The misty, cool nights are bringing some excitement to the garden also, as I see the new leaves of the puttyroot orchids and the wild cyclamens emerging; the arums can't be far behind. It all goes so fast now, though... I hope I don't miss anything.


Posted by Picasa

Comments:
The locusts are providing the background "music" as I type this.

It is a rather bittersweet time of year, isn't it?

/krys
 
Beautiful prose aside, you are just TOO depressing. There's no place like summer. There's no place like summer. There's no place like summer. It is still technically summer....
 
krys... it's both my favorite and most bittersweet time of the year.

Benjamin... almost 60 Iowa winters will do that to you. We're going this winter to Playa del Carmen for two weeks in February instead of to Zihuat... how about you two?

Don
 
Don--We're saving up for France in June to celebrate my finishing this Ph.D. after 6 years of doctoral work, and 9 years of grad school total. Besides, we can't leave in winter--a dissertation needs dissertating! I'll let you scout out PDC for me. I expect a full report to warm my winter.
 
Nancy... it's really fall-like today; lowe 60's and cold drizzle.

Benjamin... Ah, Paris in spring! I guess I won't feel sorry for you.

Don
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?