The temperature has been in the high 80s and low 90s over the last week here in Brasstown, yet there’s a change a coming.
We’ve had a few cool mornings that tease of relief from heat and humidity, but they’ve not decided to stick around and stay just yet.
One clue that fall of the year is on its way is that almost every green thing has began to decay around the edges and the entire landscape has taken on a rusty look like it needs to give its ankles a good scrubbing.
The other day after working out in the yard we took a break in the edge of the shady woods near the chicken lot. The Deer Hunter said “Fall’s coming.” I said “I know it is. It’s September.” He said “I know that dummy, but feel the air here in the shade. Even though the sun is just as hot as its been all summer, the shade is cooler. That’s how I know fall is on the way.”
Tipper
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I bet we all have certain sights or sounds or smells that tell us the seasons are changing, and I am cherishing every day that I don’t see purple New England asters, because that’s the final “beginning” of Autumn for me. There are other clues I can choose to call “late Summer,” but not those asters. It’s a good thing they are beautiful – softens the blow. I LOVE Autumn, but so much of my Autumn chore list is prep for winter and at this point, the very notion of Winter’s short days gives me a tired feeling. Getting old, maybe. Still creeping along, though!
I’ve been noticing all the signs of fall, the smells different, the air different, a bit crisper in the morning, loving all the night sounds……I love fall.
The noticeable changes in the seasons are more subtle in Hawaii. The nighttime temperatures begin to dip into the sixties, the morning breeze takes on a slight chill, and I saw my first Golden Plover of the season this morning. These birds spend the summer in Alaska where they mate and hatch their offspring. While in Hawaii, they are loners who protect their territory from all other birds, I have seen these little birds chase feral chickens away. Each bird always returns to the same territory throughout its life. Really cold winter days the temperature will drop into the low sixties. I recall two or three times when temperatures fell into the high fifties. That’s when you see those of us who live here bundled in jackets, hoodies, and shorts.
I spent several hours last Saturday, yesterday and today mowing and trimming at the Bryson City Cemetery, and had exactly the same thought as Matt. While being in the shade is obviously cooler anytime, there is a difference I noticed this last cycle of mowing. My engineering mentality has me thinking in terms of wet bulb temperature, since that is a generally better indicator of how hot it feels, regardless of what the thermometer (dry bulb temperature) says, especially in the shade. But there’s something that goes beyond that, and I don’t know what it is. Maybe there’s a biological clock component in our bodies just like there is in vegetation.
I absolutely love summer but I also love fall. Here in S central PA we are still having warm days and tomorrow is to be in the low 90’s. I am sure that will just be a one day event. I have noticed for the past two weeks that leaves were starting to fall. Not a large amount, just a sprinkle here and there. Mostly we have white pines and blue spruce lining the border of our property but one or two oaks contribute. The katydids and monarch butterflies are all around our patio and you can certainly feel a difference in the evening breeze.
The Deerhunter is tuned into nature. It is the subtle changes that we notice if we pay attention to what nature is telling us. I find it to be the smells of possibly leaves turning, and the smell of smoke in the distance where somebody just had to “knock the chill off.” Hickory nuts falling near my mailbox from an old Shagbark Hickory seem to catch me by surprise every year. I can recall thinking Autumn sad as if my lovely Summer was dying. Now it means a break from the heat and fewer bugs, and best of all an opportunity to be a bit lazy, read a book, and cook a pot of soup. It will be nice to wear a light jacket.
Tipper,
I like Wintertime better cause you can put enough clothes on to keep warm, but you can’t get enough off to stay cool when you’re outside. …Ken
Tipper, I, too, have noticed that the shade is cooler even though the sunny places in the middle of the day are just as hot as ever. When my children were growing up every time we went somewhere in the car or on a walk we looked for “signs” of fall. It was always exciting to be watching for the changes that inevitably came. Summer for us, especially for me, was a time of intense work with the garden and canning so a time of rest and cooler weather was eagerly anticipated. I love the way God has given us four distinct seasons and a beautiful rural country-side to watch as the changes come.
I know Fall is near when the Maximillans are in bloom along the roadway. My very favorite wildflower.
Smells, sounds and looks like fall. The most beautiful time in the mountains.
As much as I hate fall, I might be ready for it after the heat wave we expect this week. They are predicting the hottest week of the year. Now that’s crazy! Interesting little tidbit the Deer Hunter has shared about the shade being cooler when fall is coming.
Things are a changing but still hot through the day. Here in e.ky. the rest of week is supposed to be in the 90’s. I’ve been hearing katydids for probably a month. Time to do any v-hickle repairs. I hate doing that in cold weather when the cold metal freezes your hands numb. Replace brakes, check antifreeze, check battery, change oil and filter, etc. I hope we have more snow than last winter instead of all the rain. It’s hard to believe right now that in a little over a month it will frost. I guess in the high peaks of the Smokies it will be sooner than that.
Yes, I feel it in the air and I love the cooler nights! I’ve also noticed it’a cooler in the shade even in the heat of the day. I like the in between times best!
I am really ready & eager for Fall this year. Seems like it’s been hotter than usual–Mama had a saying that there’d be no hot night after August 12 but I think this was one time it didn’t work.
I’ve got my turnip greens & fall lettuce planted & up! Some hateful critter dug two big holes in the lettuce but didn’t completely ruin it. Our battles with wildlife continue even though there’s a Walmart on the corner about 2 blocks away, a school and a church across the road & they’re building a strip mall in front of the Walmart. You’d think the animals would go farther out in the country. I would if I could–when we moved here, we were out in the country!
It is strange just now here. Temperatures are still high summer. But low humidity, clear air, golden morning and evening light, goldenrod budding up to bloom and leaves beginning to drift down all say fall. The black gums are turning red and my neighbor’s yellow poplar is yellow.
I am ready for both rain and lower temperatures and I need them. I have cabbage, kale, broccoli and brussel sprout plants bought but I won’t put those tender babies out in the blazing hot dust of the garden. I’m keeping them in the shade and watering. I have several kinds of seed out there waiting for rain as well. Normal here to lose growing time on the fall garden for lack of rain but a bit frustrating. I so need to move.
Tipper–You (and Matt) have noted some of the signs of coming fall. Others are katydids singing a mighty chorus if one just stops to listen; dust devils dancing down unpaved roads and across sere fields; monarch butterflies beginning to appear; sumac leaves turning red; fall flowers such as Joe Pye Weed, ironweed, cardinal flowers, wild asters, and many more putting on their seasonal finery; pumpkins peeking through rows of withered corn, and the like. Yet it isn’t just sights that tell us. The air smells slightly different and has a bracing quality to it at daylight which is missing in the summer.
I don’t think we are nearly as closely attuned to such things as our forebears were, and Matt’s recognition that the air has a different feel suggests he is more closely attuned to such things than most of the world.
Jim Casada
Fall is my favorite season followed by Spring. I think the air has a different smell even with the temps still the same. A lovely scent
Yep gardens drying up, noticed some of the leaves falling also, just praying our September is nothing like our August.