Have you noticed that the days are getting shorter and the locusts are singing in the late evening?
Also, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back.
It means that the official return of autumn (or fall, as most of us refer to it) is just days away. The leaves will soon be turning and dropping, there will be cooler evenings and mornings, and fall harvest is already underway.
The seasons are the result of the tilt of our planet on its axis as we orbit the sun. The farther from the equator, the more obliquely the sun’s light strikes Earth — that’s the longer, slanted light we are bathed in now, instead of the full-on beams we bask in at high summer. And the journey will continue in the progression toward winter, taking us into shorter days, with the sun even lower on the horizon.
What’s next on the fall agenda? Fall color. Even though it will be a few weeks before the mountain ranges and the trees in the valley put on their fall wardrobe, it is sure to happen. How long will it linger? That will depend on whether the wind and rain crash the party early, or if nature lets this sweet season linger.
Last week, the spider webs glistened in the morning light, and sunlit golden afternoons beckoned. Monday, the rain came. Someone has said that autumn is a mixture of what’s left and what will be — the remnants of summer and the winds of winter.
The squirrels are already hard at work, storing away nuts for their winter meal. They can be scampering across lawns, and up trees seeking those winter meals. The grass is slowing dying, and summer flowers have lost their vibrant colors. The color of summer is seeping away, giving way to fall color.
The birds no longer sing in the early morning. Soon, they will be migrating farther south to escape the cold and snow of winter. They don’t have a pocket calendar, but they know by the shortening daylight hours that it’s time to move on.
The geese fly low in the sky, making their honking sound. Praying mantis and grasshoppers are slowly arriving. Soon, the woolly worm will bask in the warmth of autumn.
No matter how hot the summer has been, autumn will follow with bronzed woodland hues, a few pumpkins, the smell of wood burning, a few scarecrows here and there, and off course, football.
Black-eyed Susans, and the numerous goldenrod species are all giving us the clues of autumn’s all too-soon arrival. Hopefully, you have noticed a few of these signs that say autumn is near.
For many, autumn is enjoyable because of its festivals and the sense that “life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall,” if you’re of the same opinion as F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The changing of the seasons is a reminder that everyone today as well as everyone thousands of years ago lived life with the only thing constant being change. Each season is a mark of the passage of time, but it also brings us something to look forward to.