Yesterday the weather was perfect! It was so crisp and cool I had to close my windows overnight because it was so chilly. 🙂 But it wasn’t cold enough yet to immobilize the mosquito population which came after us on our otherwise lovely walk through one of the meadows at Haley Farm. The sunshine on our skin felt so good and there were whispers of autumn everywhere.
Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, time seems speeded up. What was, is not, and never again will be; what is, is change.
~ Edwin Way Teale
(Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist’s Year)
At the edge of the meadow we took another path into the woods for a short way, until the whining mosquitoes and a growling dog encounter turned us around. I love seeing how the sunlight highlights little spots in the darker woods.
Came home feeling refreshed and renewed! In spite of the covid concerns remaining stubbornly in place. Our positivity rate is 9%. We keep testing our kids and our grandchildren when they come to visit. We keep wearing masks in public places. We patiently wait for our new booster shots to be available. It will be nice to finally go get a haircut…
Signs of change, fall is on the way! Have a good weekend, the unofficial end to summer. 😉
Fall is coming and not a moment too soon! Good-bye summer and drought — there were some nice weather memories, too. 😉
Such beautiful photos allowed me to accompany you on your end of simmer walk. Thank you for sharing New England with me. I walked the Asian rain forest in the San Diego zoo. Lush and tropical with cooling shade in a heat wave. Peace and joy to you.
Thank you, Victoria. I’m glad you enjoyed my walk and your own tropical walk, too. I’ve been hearing about your excessive heat warnings and dangerously hot conditions on the news. So much worse than what we’ve got here… Many blessings to you and please stay safe and cool.
What a wonderful way to refer to these months, the ones I love the best.
They are my favorite months, too! The very best part of the year. 🙂
That is cute – The Ber Months. Our weather has cooled to the high 80s and we got 3/4ths inch of rain on our very dry ground. One never knows, anymore with climate change, what is due to happen at a certain time anymore. Lovely photos.
Thank you, Peggy. The weather is so strange these days. August was Connecticut’s hottest on record and the drought was pretty bad. It may be more than climate change, though. I read an article about the January volcano eruption in Tonga which might be affecting earth’s weather patterns for the next few years.
Interesting about the volcano eruption in Tonga. Anything like that could affect the weather all over this planet.
So many factors to consider affecting our weather. I don’t know how the weather people can sort through it all.
I am positive the weathermen get frustrated over how the weather is chaning so drastically.
I know one of mine does — every once in a while he even throws up his hands in surrender.
Funny. I have not seen any Arkansas weather men throw up their hands. Guess they must want us to think they are in control. Ha Ha
🤣 (hee, hee!)
I love the way light illuminates nature too. It’s interesting your mosquitoes are still abuzzing. Are they usually still about in September?
I’ll put it this way, I’ve never noticed mosquitoes in September before. I’m usually complaining about yellow jackets at this time of year. 🙂
Yes, we’re complaining about yellow jackets 🐝
They do put a damper on outdoor dining and picnics!
I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase “the -ber months” before, but I like it! We, too, are seeing signs of early autumn — leaves changing in places, flowers starting to look leggy. While Fall is my favorite time of year, I’m not looking forward to winter!
Thanks for the word, “leggy.” That’s the word I was searching for to describe what it happening to our petunias! I used to love winter as much as autumn but the older I get the less I seem to tolerate the cold. Even so, I prefer it to the heat and humidity of summer!
I love the Ber months! Lovely views and I’m jealous of your crisp autumn feeling. We have none of that. Why must there be mosquitos? What purpose do they serve? Of course, that is a hypothetical question.
I couldn’t resist… According to Smithsonian Magazine: “Mosquitoes form an important source of biomass in the food chain—serving as food for fish as larvae and for birds, bats and frogs as adult flies—and some species are important pollinators.” Curse them all!
I had no idea they actually did something good.
I’ll stop complaining now…😉
Still, I don’t think the good they do outweighs the bad… 😉
I also love the “ber” months Barbara. In fact, I just wrote a post lamenting that Summer never seemed so long and intolerable as the Summer Season is now. We had that same beautiful day last week and I went down to the River for a stroll. I hated to return home to go to work. I see your red Sumac leaves (which I now identify thanks to you) along with the flowers that are on the Sumac bushes. I’m not sure if they are blossoms of some type but I also took pictures of some at the Park recently. A few more weeks and we’ll be seeing the leaves turning in our favorite morning haunts.
I agree with you about summers seeming longer and more intolerable. We grew up without air-conditioning and I remember a few sleepless nights here and there where a fan wasn’t enough, but certainly don’t remember these unrelenting, endless heat waves. The unbearable days were rare, now the pleasant days are rare. Even autumn isn’t as cool and crisp as it used to be. A couple of years ago we had to run the air conditioner a few days in October, which was pretty shocking. Sadly we have no choice but to adapt to this and try to do our part reducing emissions and voting for legislators and governors who will work for this. I hope we have a nice fall!
In hearing what California has had to do, perhaps “borrowing” electricity from other states, that just makes me wonder, what will happen down the line with California and their drought and heat? We are following suit, though not as bad. Back when I was young, I recall we’d have a few very hot days and that was it – not day after day. We have beautiful weather Wednesday through Friday this week, but a rainy weekend unfortunately. I remember the occasional day running the air conditioner in October or in late Spring, but that was it. I hope we don’t have to continue adapting and something is done pronto.
At least California is in a position to borrow from other states. Texas has its own grid and wasn’t able to get help from other states during that big freeze in February 2021. The world is going to have to find ways to share power and water because things are so off balance. We finally got a substantial rainfall, 2.6 inches in our town, but since we are 11 inches behind normal it only made a dent in the drought. It felt good having a couple of rainy days, even if the humidity made things a little uncomfortable at times. Funny how humidity can make you feel warmer or cooler, depending on the air temperature. I haven’t figured out at what temperature it shifts, but my sweater was coming off and getting put back on multiple times a day.
Hearing the stories today about California being on the cusp of rolling blackouts – everyone has to work together now. So will it be every person/family for itself or will people know to curtail their energy use to avoid rolling blackouts? I heard an auto expert on the radio today and learned something. I did not realize that EV owners could plug their vehicles in, but tell set a timer not to start charging until a certain time. I just assumed you plugged it in and once charged, it stayed charge – no planning required. I was thinking people were not going to get up in the middle of the night to turn the car battery charger on.
My father had a VW Beetle when I was a kid and we lived in Canada. We lived on the “curve” on a cul-de-sac in a new subdivision, so there were no trees or big bushes to block the wind, so he got up very early in the morning to plug in the car heater to warm the engine block so the car would start when he left for work.
We had a glorious weather day today and they say we will have a warmer than normal September and October, so I am looking forward to them immensely.
That’s the big question now… Will we realize we are all in this together and start cooperating for our mutual benefit or will we continue along on our selfish, greedy, every state or country for itself path? EVs are creating whole new situations. I had to laugh. I read about someone who was upset because her houseguests recharged their EV using the electricity from her personal hookup instead of going to a station where you have to pay. What will be the new rules for visiting? Do you offer electricity to your guests, along with with meals and clean sheets and towels? Our condo association is starting to figure out what to do about a new law that says we have to provide hookups for each unit if they want one. Where are we going to put them? Do we need to rip up the sidewalks or reconfigure the parking lot or what? People resists changes, even good ones. If our little community can’t figure this out I have little hope for towns and states…
That’s interesting what your father had to do to get his Beetle ready to start. We’re having beautiful weather, too, but I’m laid up after getting the new bivalent booster shot on Wednesday. Tim had no reaction at all. (I’m jealous!) My arm is still awfully sore and I had a terrible headache yesterday. Felt sorry to miss the great walking days…
That will be interesting to see how it plays out Barbara. I’m thinking people will be more of the mindset of “if it benefits me, then I’ll do it.” It’s terrible I think so less of the masses, but convince me otherwise. I did not hear any more info on California’s gridline after Queen Elizabeth’s passing – before that it had been the top national news story.
As to offering your personal charging station, I’m thinking that would be akin to offering your guests your WiFi password or creating a special account for them.
That’s quite a decision as to how your condo association decides to reconfigure to incorporate EV charging stations.
Yes, the wind would blow in the Wintertime and my father would go out to brush the car off as it looked like an igloo sitting in the driveway.
I’m sorry to hear you are laid up (in stellar weather – grrr) and I likely will get ill from it as well. The only time I got a reaction was the second vaccination and the second booster and that was flu-like symptoms that came on quickly about eight hours post-shot. I had Moderna all the way. I had thought you had to wait six months and I had my last booster on April 20th, but today I heard just eight weeks, so I have to research it over the weekend as I see all the pharmacies around me are offering it now, along with the flu shot. I think I’d do the flu shot separately, but I’ll think on that.
I miss the kind of snow that makes covered cars look like igloos! 🙂 Seems like when we were growing up in the 1960s there was a lot more snow, nice snow, not the weird icy or slushy stuff we get these days. Sigh… The longer I live the more I realize that nothing lasts forever…
All my shots were Pfizer until this one, which was Moderna because we couldn’t locate any place offering Pfizer and I wanted to get mine sooner than later. (All of Tim’s have been Moderna.) Pfizer only made me feel crummy for a couple of days. Today is the third day after Moderna and my arm and head still hurt, although not as badly as yesterday. So I’m going to go outside, in spite of the malaise.
I read you can get the bivalent 2 months after your last booster if you’re over 50. And 3 months after testing negative for covid after testing positive. I’m glad I decided to wait a couple of weeks to get my flu shot. Then I can enjoy the rest of the fall!
There’s so much I want to share with you Barbara that I will write it out, then edit it shorter, and then again condense into something meaningful. So much happened here the entire month of August! Is it almost mid-September? It is definitely not fall like here, even the croaking bullfrog underneath my bedroom flooring is immensely grumpy grumbled about too much mud-water; a bit of good news the possums who thought it would be a nice dry day nap were rudely awaken to swim out for higher grounds!
I’m delighted that you have endured into Fall beginnings! I’m taking my delight with you because Yorkie and I desperately want happy thoughts for our sleeping angels’ night dreams!
Our summer weather came back yesterday but it’s not supposed to linger for too long. More importantly, we’re getting rain! Too much rain too fast in some parts of the state. So far it’s been a gentle soaking rain here so I’m grateful. It seems like it will make a good dent in the drought. I smiled thinking about your bullfrog and possums being inconvenienced by the rain. 🙂
Sweet dreams to you and Yorkie!
When I went to bed last night I knew this would be Autumn with the Harvest Moonrise and Moonset. I intentionally designed my large private back space for sky-scapes. Day & Night. The cloud weather did not allow me to see the moonrise. Lucky I did get a glimpse in the middle of the night through my bathroom window which placed a smile in my heart as I slipped back into slumber. When I brewed my coffee this morning, I cozy myself in my recliner in the kitchen to watch out the corner window as the Harvest Moon Set its time. It was a soft light orange, burnt sienna, as it slowly drifted behind the deciduous tree-line. And I began Autumn.
I like the “the -ber months” phrase! Yet we do not feel this until beginning of December-February! And that’s enough cold for me.
P.S. as long as those croaking toads eat the flying mosquitoes underneath my cottage, then I will be less annoyed falling asleep that something good is happening underneath me!
What a wonderful celebration of the beginning of autumn! Sometimes we don’t get exactly what we want but what we do get is just as beautiful. The burnt sienna moon sounds exquisite!
By the way, the “-ber” months refers to the letters at the end of the names of the months. Not the “brrr” months which would defintely be December through February.