And Just Like That

It was just a few days ago that I was wandering my yard and admiring some of the flowers, including the Morning Glories which have taken over the fence line on one side of the backyard.  Their colors are so vibrant and if you squint just right you can almost ignore the other changes going on around you that tell you their time is nearing an end.

Muggy weather and warmer temps may still linger but you know that change is coming, and I think with age you can almost sense the changing of the seasons in a way you aren't able to when you are twenty something.

I think that is why I wander my surroundings more often than I used to, and I sometimes feel as though I'm now privy to a little secret that mother nature only imparts on people over 35.  A sense of time passing, of seasons changing, and a need to soak it all in a bit more than we once did.

Try as I might to hang on to Summer, even the nasty hot, drought ridden one we've had, there are some things you just can't ignore.  Today, after months of very little rain in our area...particularly in our section of the county we live in, the skies opened up and let go.

It was like watching someone who had held it in for far too long finally having a good cry, the kind that makes you feel better afterwards.  I had to wonder if even mother nature has those days, when she just has to let her guard down and let the tears flow as raindrops.  If so, then this was surely one of those days for her.

And just the mere image of rain drops pouring down my windowpanes, made me want to bake comfort food, unpack sweaters that haven't seen the light of day for months, and snuggle up beside a fire.

I guess we aren't unlike the tiny hummingbirds that are so frantically gathering at our feeders, fortifying themselves with much needed strength for their long journey southward in a few weeks.  I suppose that we too have our own internal clocks that tell us that when the tomato vines start to bend and brown, and the fruits start to mimic the colors of fall that we have work we need to do to get ready for the changing season.

I know that come this afternoon it will be hot and humid once again and the sun will shine brightly, but I also know that those endless stretches of sunny days and asphalt too hot to tread on will slowly give way to falling leaves and cooler temps.

But today, amidst all of the evidence to the contrary, I will pretend that summer is never-ending...because a little denial never hurt anyone right?!