I know there are a million signs around that the season is shifting and that fall is just around the corner. I try to ignore most of the commercial ones by avoiding retailers offering any sort of back to school message for the entire month of August. I prefer getting my clues from the garden. They’re a bit more subtle, and lovely still in their shifting and fading.
There are examples all around me of the last one standing – one proud lily , standing tall.
The silks of the lanterns are fading in the late summer sun. The petals are no different.
Colors are shifting from vibrant to muted, russets and golds and plums.
The angle of the sun in the morning is lower. It misses the canopies above and lights the path in front of me.
You catch more hidden views here in the early morning, with the sun pouring into the low spaces.
A few leaves hint at what’s to come.
It’s busy and calm at the same time. The water clings to early fall fruits and the sunlight catches spider webs you’ve missed all summer. There’s still plenty of time, no need to rush. Coffee is comfortable again, the camera strap is cool around your neck, the breeze is underworked and grateful. This morning is the best gift that August has ever given you outside of your first love and then your second. You hope that you make the transitions next week look as easy as the garden does.
