Ah
September
My favorite time
of the year. A time for welcoming the cool mornings for a brisk bike ride, and
then lounging in the afternoon sun to let the warmth slowly sink into my joints.
During such moments, I can imagine I am young again, ready to play tennis, hike
a five-miler without complaint, and paddle ‘til the sun don’t shine. Such is my
imagination until I get up from the lounge chair.
September is the
month when we hear all of nature telling us “Hurry, you only have a few short weeks
remaining before I hide my green finery and cover everything with snow.” I was
enjoying the warm weather with such idle thoughts when I decided to take a
brief walk to the river where I noticed the oak trees were beginning to display
rusty-red leaves and the ferns were midway in their transformation from green
to yellow. Amidst this cacophony of color and change, I happened to come upon a
mushroom in the path that was changing from its normal white coat to one that
was a shiny mahogany color. In my reverie, I thought I heard the mushroom
calling to me.
”Hey. You there. Why don’t
you pick me and we’ll go have a beer together.”
I looked to be
sure no one was listening before I dared reply. I spoke softly just in case. “Why
should I,” I whispered.
“Its because when I get in a
bar, I’m a fungi.”
I shook my head. Here I was,
practically in a hallucinogenic state as I admired nature’s handiwork, and some
dumb plant plays a feeble joke on me. It reminded me of Groucho Marx. He said
that his favourite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty days hath September'
because it actually tells you something.
September is the
time of change. In my part of the North Woods, we are reminded that summer has
come to an end and much of the natural world is engaged in preparation for the
coming cold months. Most of our summer birds have left, and it is fun to watch
migrants who stop for a brief rest before continuing their journey. This week
we watched two Great Blue Herons pause at our pond until they got spooked by
our presence. We think the Hummingbirds have left as the last of our flowers
are fading and only tiny flying insects are attending to the last of the
blooms. Although we haven’t had a frost yet, we have had several mornings with
the temperature just above the freezing point while afternoon temperatures are
sometimes 40 degrees warmer.
There are some
things about September that I don’t like. I don’t like the furnace coming on
during the cold nights to drink my propane. I think if there is any drinking to
be done, it should be done by me. I also don’t like the reduced sunlight that
shortens my days nor the reminders that I’ll soon be switching to long
underwear and giving up my bikini briefs, Tee’s, and short pants. What a
bummer. Maybe I’ll turn up the heat to imagine it is July again and sit in
front of the TV in a bathing suit. It beats talking to mushrooms.
