Fall, finally: Summer has disappeared from the landscape

It might not seem like it at first glance, but fall is upon us.

The calendar marked the first day of autumn this week, and although the days might still be warm and muggy, there is no doubt but that summer has beaten a slow, meandering retreat for another year.

Sundown now arrives noticeably earlier, and the evenings are cooler. The leaves have not yet begun to turn, but there is an obvious slowing of the growth cycle, with plants beginning to slowly recognize that the season of rapid flourishing has passed.

Fields of ripened corn are a dead giveaway, as are the yellowed fields of tobacco and grapevines full of golden muscadines.

Announcements of homecomings, harvest sales  and church revivals are beginning to show up in print, along with the increasing number of political signs that dot the highways and store shelves already stocked with Halloween gear.

The fair is almost here, and once the carnival begins we will know that fall has fully arrived. It is still early for pumpkins and frost, but they cannot be too far away.

Summer, with all its sunshine and glory, has faded. And fall, splendorous fall, is beginning to emerge and take its rightful place.

Published in Editorials on September 23, 2016 9:43 AM