my life in appalachia - fall is afoot

Late summer days make me long for the first heavy frost. The cool air the mountains of western North Carolina has enjoyed for the last several days lets me know that wished for frost is getting closer and closer.

I love all the seasons, but by the time one is almost over I’m ready for the next one to start. If I had to choose my least favorite time of the year it would be late August and the first of September. I’ve always thought of this time as the dying of summer.

I feel smothered by the jungle of weeds that have taken over my garden and hug the sides of the road as I drive to and fro. I dislike the green when it takes on a dull brown around its edges and I feel oppressed by the wild tangle of overgrowth that fills in all the empty spaces. The feeling makes me want Old Man Winter to come with his frosty breath and handle the work of cutting it all down.

Every year The Deer Hunter drags us out on the porch on the first cool morning so that we can enjoy the change in temperature with him. While he inhales the brisk crisp air the rest of us are wishing we had a blanket to wrap up in. But I’m glad he pulls us outside to see and experience the first sign of fall in our mountain holler.

Tipper

 

 

 

 

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11 Comments

  1. I’m with you, I’ve always enjoyed the cool mornings, reminds me of waiting on the school bus to pick us up for school, on Saturdays we’d be cutting and hauling firewood.

  2. “drags us out on the porch” made me laugh 🙂
    I’m sleeping on the porch with windows open even if now I have to have a blanket on the bed and keep a pair of designated “bed socks” handy in case I wake up with cold feet and can’t get back to sleep.
    Unlike you, though, I LOVE this time of year because as Summer starts to turn there’s so much less humidity and so fewer nasty insects (mosquitoes still hanging on though) and it’s possible to do things outdoors without getting melted or bitten into one giant welt. (Not for the first time, I wonder if I am living in the wrong part of the country!)

  3. Tipper,
    I pray for our friends in Florida. When I was quite a bit younger, my family and I was from one end of Florida to the other several times. We liked Daytona the best.
    I prefer Cold Weather and love the Snow. But like everyone else, when it’s time, I enjoy the season at hand. The reason I like cold weather the best is losing all this humidity. I just feel better breathing cool air. …Ken

  4. Tipper,
    I think Mother Nature is feeling sorry for us after the hot. moisture laden air, of this years sultry dog days of Summer! She is now saying, “Alright here’s a touch, a sampling, if you will of cool Fall days to come later! Get your summer chores wrapped up while it’s cool, I’m giving you a break! Don’t “doddle” in the fresh cool air just yet!
    Yes, she plans on coming back full force with a beautiful Indian Summer. A few more hot days to remind us not to forget where we’ve been! Also, with all the rain more than likely coming our way, she decided to lower the sap in the trees a bit early. Her plan to get a jump start on the wonderful Fall colors she is planning for this year. Otherwise, the shiny bright, dry, colorful Fall we always hope for with light frosty mornings, would just be a dull green. Too soon turned to dark Fall with an overnight leaf drop……
    Yes, I crave the days of long drives. The sun shining with a bright blue sky, as the shortened day combines with the solar direction, jogging the Fall memories. When the wind blows a few colorful leaves across our path only to round a curve, look across the valley as the shock of the multi-color landscape we view, shocks us into the reality of the artwork! Knowing then, that only the supreme artist can render this magnificence…..
    Thanks Tipper,
    PS….How did I know this prediction? She told me thru the natural predictions with help from the Wooly Bear!

  5. I brought all the house plants in that have been enjoying life on the deck all summer. Also, battening down the hatches in case we get the high winds that are predicted.
    I know how the deer hunter feels. I have been inhaling on the deck for a few days now.
    Love just sitting out there and reading a good book or just enjoying the view.
    Dreading the winds that may come since we are surrounded by very tall oaks.
    Prayers for everyone who may be impacted by this storm.

  6. The weathermen are saying fall will arrive early this year. We typically get our first frost on or around Oct. 10th, but it’s been feeling pretty frosty a month early. It’s 49 degrees as I type this-about 30 degrees cooler than I like. I know what you mean about the weeds taking over. We didn’t have a break in lawn mowing this summer. The heavy weekly rain has been a blessing for our soybeans, but not for a tired girl and her mower.

  7. I love the cool mornings and warm days of fall. It’s nice to breath in the cool air and it makes me want to get out and be in the woods exploring or working in the yard.
    My least favorite time of year is the bleak gray days of winter. I like color either from the lush greens of late spring to the yellow, red and orange of fall.
    I’m getting my chain saw out and tuned up today in case we get the winds they are predicting here in North Ga. We live in a mountain community and we are way back in the woods with narrow roads. Sometimes you have to cut your way out to the main roads. Praying for all who are in the path of this storm!

  8. Yesterday morning was 49 degrees at our place in Brevard, NC. We got almost no hot weather until early July. A very short summer!

  9. You make a good point. I feel a little bit like you with the dying of summer but I have never really focused on that transition. There are a lot of natural signals; goldenrod blooming, peach harvest ending and apple beginning, grass making seed heads, purple top grass seed heads turning purple and muscadines disappearing. But at least it is not as sad as the dying of the year when winter comes.
    There was a time, some years ago now, when I reveled in being out in the bad weather to see nature in all of its moods. Not so much anymore. But I recognize the feeling. Also, the Deer Hunter knows deer season is not far off.

  10. I feel the coolness in the air and it makes me both happy and sad. It bodes both the ending of our summer and the beginning of our cold season. We are very fortunate here in the mountains to get to experience four full and very distinctly different seasons each and every year. It’s ok if there is a season you don’t like just give it a little while and it will change!
    Our cool mornings certainly speak of the fall that is coming.

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