Autumn. . .

Don’t know if you caught it, but yesterday that was a hint of autumn in the air!  People stared at me in disbelief, crying “But it is only August!  I am not through with summer yet!”  Well, perhaps it is the old school teacher in me or the former pastor gearing up for fall schedules, but I can sense the presence!  It is rather like the old-fashioned calling cards people used to send out announcing their upcoming visit to the folks at the house.  “Not yet, but soon!”
The sun seems to be at a little different position in the sky, the breeze is cooler although the sun may be hot; evening temps drop off; and the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves on the trees is definitely different.  I think the leaves are drying out and that causes the rustle.  It will be interesting to see this year if the leaves along the river are bright and golden or dry and brown.  The colors vary depending on the moisture.  And speaking of moisture, once harvest is over we could use some fall rains again, not storms, but soft soakers.
As I look at approaching fall schedules it is as though August is yawning and stretching its muscles after several months of sleeping in the summer sun.  With harvest, county fair, school starting, Labor Day activities it is time to get moving again.  Those “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” are almost at an end. 
“Come, little leaves, said the Wind one day.
Come over the meadows with me and play.
Put on your dresses of red and gold f
or Summer is gone and the days grow cold.”
Soon as the leaves
Heard the wind’s loud call,
Down they came fluttering,
One and all;
Over the meadows
They danced and flew,
Singing the soft
Little songs they knew.
Dancing and flying
The little leaves went;
Winter had called them
And they were content-
Soon fast asleep
In their earthy beds,
The snow laid a soft mantle
Over their heads.
George Cooper