July Morning

This is that morning, the one where there is some indefinable something in the air that promises that autumn will come. Is it the coolness, the dew (so rare in the desert), the sound of the owls hunting in the orchard? Autumn is still months away and the day will soon be blazing. But, still. This is that morning.

The Seasons as a Metaphor

gather up

those vivid colors

into your eye and heart

because

you know

the black and white season

is fast approaching

It Feels a Little Bit Like Fall

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 Teale

***

Even though we are relatively new to this High Plains country, the signs of the coming autumn are surprisingly familiar. I am reminded, in some essential way that I don't really have to think about, that the cooler days are coming.

The late August call of the blue jay sounds just the way it did back in New Hampshire. At night, the toads and the crickets sing to say that they will soon be leaving us. A couple of trees in the neighborhood have a different look to the color of their leaves. Just a slightly different look.

Back in New Hampshire, I would watch for that branch high on the big maple tree near the fruit stand off High Street. It always turned scarlet every year as school was starting. Way too soon, we would think.

A schoolteacher friend in Maine used to tell me that her last daylily would bloom just before the first day of school. Here in eastern New Mexico, we will still have flowers blooming right into November, but we know it's time for school to start by the smell of chiles roasting.

We still slip into shorts and tee shirts every morning, confident of the continuing warmth of our days. But we know the changes are coming.

Fahrenheit Relativity

Looking out the kitchen door; New Hampshire in February

Sometimes in the middle of a seemingly endless New England winter, there would come a sunny day. Even though the temperature might be only 35 degrees, it would be enough to melt the snow from the porch. We'd sit outside barefooted and in shirtsleeves, squinting as the sun bounced off the snowbanks. It would be a hopeful day, filled with thoughts of coming flowers and spring rains, even though we knew we'd soon return to weeks more of winter.

Now that we've experienced our second summer in Clovis, we've become used to week after week of 90 degree days and never ending sunny skies. Now, here in mid-August, we have started experiencing a series of cool, damp days and nights. We're bundling up with quilts at night and with long pants and sweaters during the days--days that might start out at (brrr) 60 degrees.

I guess we're losing our New England toughness. Maybe this winter we won't snicker when we see people wearing boots, parkas, and earmuffs on one of our "chilly" 50 degree winter days. Maybe we'll even wear jackets this year.

Such a Lovely Spring

We've just had visitors from New Hampshire and had a chance to see our part of New Mexico through their eyes. They loved seeing leaves out on the trees, as theirs are still in bud. Here are some of the flowers that are blooming now around the house.