Sunday, September 2, 2012

On Autumn

 
 
photo credit here
 

Let's face it...no one wants summer to end.  Ever.
The beginning of fall gets a bum rap at this time of year.
 
But once we've resigned ourselves to the fact that
the cool nights
the dewy grass
the foggy mornings
really are here, and that it was not just a blip in summer's radar screen
fall really is a magnificent time of year.
 
As I read in a magazine yesterday,
it's when the new year starts for many of us,
more so than on January 1.
The summer hiatus has come to an end.
 
Labour day long weeked marks the beginning
Back to school shopping is complete
Tuesday morning the school busses will rumble out of their garages. 
Summer whites and sandals are beginning to be packed up
Jeans and jackets are appearing
People wearing shorts suddenly begin to look a little out of place.
 
This year marks the first year since we moved here and I began my adult life in 1989
that we have no kids going to school
First my husband's two daughters
Then our own two sons
All have graduated now
No more early morning wake up calls,
Lunches to make in the hopes that they don't end up in the garbage
or worse, left in the backpack for the week
and homework struggles....I will NOT miss those!
 
We have one tree in our yard that always seems a little ahead of schedule
the first to show buds in the spring
and the first to yellow in the fall
the first to bare its branches in preparation for the snow.
 
The hummingbird feeder hangs deserted
Time to give it a wash and put it away
somewhere where I will be able to find it next spring.
 
Time to put away the sunscreen and mosquito spray
air out the hockey gear, get those skates sharpened and ready to go
Hopefully I can play again this year
That depends on a few things
 
The wood stove wakes up from its summer hibernation
the floor fans are put away.
 
Bare feet and toenail polish
are no longer the order of the day
and we can skip the leg shaves if we want.
Tan lines are beginning to fade.
 
Fall is beautiful here
I imagine it is in most places
And I am ready to embrace it
And give credit where credit is due.

9 comments:

  1. What a lovely photo you have taken! So serene. Today is the first day we are feeling the season change here in NEw England! We are still in wonder of living in a new state with 4 seasons. I have always loved fall!

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    1. Thank you Shell, but it isn't my photo, got it from Flickr with the credit beneath the photo.

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  2. Sounds wonderful there ... autumn is my favorite time of the year and the leaves are already beginning their wardrobe change.

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  3. Your words are a wonderful description of autumn here now. I read this post yesterday and I smiled tonight when I saw a man with shorts outside in the cold rain as I thought about your words.

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  4. Ah, I haven't given up on the shorts quite yet, but I do have a warm hoodie nearby. And it won't be long before we take the warmer clothes back out of storage (something we didn't have to do in Alberta where we ALWAYS had the warm stuff close at hand !). Yes, early Sept. is the start of the new season when people start taking work a little more seriously.

    With the severe drought we've had this year a lot of trees have dropped many of their leaves already - not sure whether we'll have much fall colour. But hopefully we won't be using the wood stove for another month or so !

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  5. Hi there cousin, great readings about the Fall....I'm not quite in the mood for fall. Although the trees are changing color rapitly. We've just had a very hot after summer party. The last two weeks it was 25 C still...ugh if only whe had that during the summerbreak! Well typical Dutch weather.

    Talk soon hugs in all colorful ways ;-)))
    Dagmar

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  6. We're still having warm weather, but the nights are cool. I always think that Autumn begins right after Labor Day -- do you have that in BC? It's still warm and the trees don't seem to know what to do. But I snug under the quilt with my new cat at the foot of the bed and smile.

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  7. Joyce the photo you've posted is beautiful. I love your ode to summer, almost makes me sad my summer is almost over even though I've experienced summer since January 23rd this year when I landed in Australia. I know that it's going to take a wee bit longer to adapt to our cold weather this year, being away from it for so long... but so be it. Thanks for the reminder, it's time to rotate clothing, put the shorts back into the totes, but not the Capri's, not quite yet as I am refusing to let go of summer without a fight!

    Wonderful post, thank you! Cheers.

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  8. Your blog redesign is wonderful. I love it.

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