How do we know when the summer’s coming to an end? What telltale signs do you recognize in your neighborhood?
Down the street the kids are tossing a football around. Baseballs and bat are put away. They know.
Standing on the deck in the morning sunlight, coffee cup in hand, you’re impressed by the silence. No dissonant mixture of bird songs. They know.
Potted mums appear at the big box stores, Wally-World. Summer clothes drastically reduced, and some Hallowe'en decorations offered for sale. They know.
The almanac tells me that dog days are over and cat nights are upon us. All hallows approaches.
In the night sky Scorpio leans to the west. Sagittarius, the teapot, shines at the end of the Milky Way. Directly overhead Regulus rules, in the constellation Leo the Lion. Cat Nights?
Here in Athens, Georgia, a cold quiet afternoon rain tells
me that summer is over. Not frigid outside, it’s 68 degrees. A steady shower,
not heavy, no wind. I stand in the garage, watching the trees accept the gift
of raindrops. I can feel it in all my senses – autumn is here. Summer is over.
Yes, I know, the calendar says another three weeks until the solstice. It will get warmer, even hotter, again. And dry. But I think that's just the last reminder of bright summer days, beer on the deck, potted plants blooming away, lazy hazy afternoons. Now, harvest time approaches us rapidly.
But summer's not over for my friends in South Texas, living with 100 degrees on a daily basis. Are there some early signs of Autumn in the southwest?
Dac
August 30, 2009.
Ubi dubium ibi libertas:
Where there is doubt, there is freedom.
Latin Proverb, cited by Carl Sagan, who adds, “Politics is not a
science.”