Coming Soon

 

It has been a long hot summer.  A long, hot, dry summer.  Gardens have struggled, farm crops have floundered, and animals have suffered.  I have been torn between longing for fall and its cooler weather and hoping the weather will allow at least one more hay cutting and just a little longer for corn and soybeans to beat the odds and produce a crop.  But this week, I have noticed unmistakable signs that fall is approaching.

I was playing with the puppies in the front yard, taking pictures, and I noticed the change in the light.  The sun has shifted just a little in the sky and the light has a different look.  The birds are not quite as busy – their morning song is not quite as carefree.  The night sounds seem a little more melancholy, and the night air has just a hint of a chill.

Saturday brought two more sure signs of the impending change in seasons.  I was driving to town and came upon a sign that announced the advent of the chrysanthemums. 

I am lucky enough to have a spectacular nursery for those cheerful harbingers of autumn just down the highway.  It not only provides a perfect place for me to purchase my own mums, but I can enjoy driving by every day and watching the progression of yellows, reds, bronzes and whites that fill the large area right by the road. 

I used to grow chrysanthemums.  I don’t mean just in the yard, in a casual way.  Our little town, in the 1960s and 1970s had an active chapter of the National Chrysanthemum Society and put on one of the most successful “mum” shows in the southeast.  One year, we were even host for the National Chrysanthemum Show.  Growing mums to show involved a lot of preparation, preparing the beds, planting the tiny slips which were identified by little white markers with names like Gladiator, Happy Face, and Flying Saucer.  Pinching off suckers to shape the sprays, or to encourage the size and health of the single blooms.  Fertilizing, watering, protecting the plants from pests, and planning which categories to concentrate on – it was quite a challenge.  Thanks to a wonderful retired ag teacher in our community, R.E. Bruner, the children of our county had a unique opportunity to participate in this endeavor.  Mr. Bruner provided the plants, helped set up the beds for them and not only gave advice, but visited regularly to oversee and help care for the plants.  I was lucky enough to be involved for several years.  So, the vibrant colors of the mums in the fall have a special meaning for me.

I stopped in town to buy a local paper and, right there at the top of the front page in bright red was the heading, “High School Football.”  Even if I hadn’t already noticed the other signs, this was a sure giveaway that fall is in the air.  I haven’t been to a game in years, but memories of crisp nights, bright Friday night lights, marching bands, and homecoming parades are right there – close enough to touch – when I see that headline. I can close my eyes and smell the bonfire, hear the cheers of the crowd and see the decorated floats in the parade. The Tournament of Roses had nothing on enthusiastic groups of high school students determined to win accolades for the best homecoming float!  A lot has changed about school from my days in the 1970’s, but I suspect football games are still much the same.  The cheerleaders still shout, “Push ‘em back, push ‘em back, waaay back,” the band still plays “The Fight Song,” and the players still wrestle their way into the holy ground that is the end-zone, to the tune of cheers from fans and groans from the opposing crowd.

Halloween candy is filling the aisles of the stores.  I really don’t count that as a sign of fall since the stores feel compelled to put it out as soon as July 4^th is over.  Christmas decorations will be here in a week or two, uneasily co-existing with pumpkins, witches, and goblins.  Cornstalks are dry in the garden, ready to transform into fall decorations.  And hopefully, pumpkins are ripening in someone’s garden (not in mine – a casualty of the hot, dry summer).

The leaves are not yet changing and most days are still hot and humid. But fall is coming.  I can feel it, and the chrysanthemums tell me it’s almost that time.  The sign could just as well read "Coming Soon - Fall".  This morning there is a slow rain whispering through the trees.  I feel the urge to lay in supplies for chili and taco soup.  Maybe I will buy some Halloween candy and cut some cornstalks.  Or maybe I will just sit on my porch and listen to the rain.