I searched on the Internet and there are two black walnut festivals close to us. I kept thinking they would probably have been very grateful if I had gathered up all our goods and donated them to the festival. But I just didn't feel like venturing out to that section of the backyard. I, also, kept thinking that the squirrels probably needed the harvest more than the festival people. Kip brought three walnuts in the house last time he was here, peeled off the green outer husk, cleaned the inside hard shells off, and set them up to dry on my kitchen shelf. I'll save them for him when he comes down next. That will be Thanksgiving in November. Unless he's able to get off work to go to Tennessee with me and the Muckheads for a little sibling reunion.

This picture has no relevance to what's written on this page. Just added it to provide interest. Well, I could say that the two old folks here are enjoying a cooler moment on the swing on the deck but the fat one was trying to heat it up. Someone needs to think of a good caption for this one.

I love the changing of the seasons. It's gradual and subtle. Suddenly you are aware that the days are shorter. Signs of fall show up in late summer as the leaves on the box elder turn a bit yellow and start sloughing off. Certainly, seeing the date of the official start of autumn is the best signal that fall has started. But there are other signs. The robins appear in flocks in the yard again. They were here during the nesting season making good use of our mulberry tree treats. There would be a dozen yearling robins feasting every day on the ground and in the tree after the fledging phase. Once the mulberries were gone, so were the robins. Until fall.

The starlings start to flock in great numbers. You've probably noticed this at some time in your life. They gather noisily in trees and when something spooks them they swoop off in a great black fury.

Ladybugs appear in multitudes. And you'll find them sitting quietly in your homes on the windows or the ceiling. You're not sure if they are trying to get back outside or if they are content in thinking they have found a safe and warm place to spend the winter. We had a storage unit on the patio when we lived in an apartment in Fairfield. Come spring when we had to get into that little storage closet, hundreds of ladybugs started dropping out of there anxious to get to the sun and warm up.

I dream of living somewhere else that would have more of a moderate temperature all year round because I go cabin crazy with the windows shut for five months straight during the winter. And then shut for half of the summer so the air conditioner can run and take the humidity out of our life. But I would miss the changing of the seasons. It marks a rythmn to my life that I would miss. These seasonal changes send different sensations to my psyche each quarter as the weather flows from spring into summer into autumn into winter and back again. Memories and vague yearnings stir with each passing of the year's cycles. These have defined my life and to not live with them would feel like I've lost something of myself. So, cold weather come on. Let's get on with it and get it over.

I'll marvel at the stillness of the denuded trees and the look of their stark branches sticking into the gray sky. I'll wait for the cushion of snow to blanket my view so it can brighten up my day with is whiteness.

Then I'll greet spring when I start seeing the buds coming out on the trees. And the fringe trees beginning to make the view of our house from the street across the creek invisible again. The cardinals will be the first ones, starting in early March, to send out their territorial calls. The crocus will poke their buds above the soil not caring if there is still snow on the ground. Slowly, the trees will sprout little bits of spring green and right before my eyes each day the canopy of the trees gets fuller and fuller till shade occupies most of the yard again. Pastel colors come awake. The birds are all over the place calling and chirping and singing. Then soon they start finding bits of dried grass and straw and whatever they can find to make their nests to hold their new babies. The June bugs come out in May and flit at the screens at night if there is a light on near the screen. One lightning bug, then two, flicker their signals and then I know that summer is waxing. When Bill gets out into the backyard, then I know it has gotten warmer.

We realize that the clothes will dry now on the clothesline so they get hung out on a regular basis. One lightning bug becomes MANY lightning bugs. They put on a dazzling show as they ascend into the trees at twilight. The bats are out swooping over the deck. It is a delight to sit on the swing and feel nature coming. In the daytime, one would swear that the leaves on the trees just popped out overnight. Suddenly, I'm aware that they are now turning a darker green. All the tulips have bloomed and their wilting heads are hanging low. Lilies are pushing their way up past the dead now to take their place in the sun. I get a sudden urge to plant color in the yard so I peruse the garden centers and pile all sorts of flowers in my car along with packets of herbs and flower seeds. Tomato plants have now shown up so I get some of those. Then I try to get in the mood to plant all of these luxuries. Thankfully, my daughter is around to do most of the planting.

We dip in the pool every day. We shut the windows so we can turn on the a/c. I want to be outside but it's too hot to do anything but be in the pool so I stay inside glued to my computer. And the mosquitos have finally caught up with the weather making it miserable to be out for any length of time. The gazebo tent has been up for sometime and we eat in that with a fan blowing full bore to stave off the humidity. Some days are just too hot for even the fan to make a difference so reluctuantly I shut myself inside the house to dine. Bill is cutting grass weekly. And the sun is bright, bright, bright except for ocassional spells of rain. There is a langour in the air. The meals I cook are cool and easy ones when I feel like cooking. Usually Amy is grilling so I ask if she can put my meat on, too. Fruit is more present since it is growing like mad in these seasons.

Then one day the schools open their doors. Even though summer isn't officially over according to the calendar, everyone feels like it is. Bill starts saying that it's time to take the pool down. And by mid-September I finally agree with him. Orange starts springing up everywhere because the stores have put their pumpkins out in full force and Halloween decorations and costumes and candy beckon you to buy them. A tree decides to turn its leaves early but only on one part of the tree so this bright orange expanse stands out against a backdrop of still green. The box elder and the black walnut leaves have been turning yellow little by little. The briefest of winds tear the yellow ones from their hangers and they shower down in a sunny burst of a shower. The black walnuts are burgeoning on the trees and I start hearing them drop. A couple here, one there. Then they become a hammering of noise as the days go on in their eagerness to meet the earth. Usually it is a squirrel that has helped them on their way.

And we have come full circle.

Someone just turned two and is enjoying every lick of that icing.