August 31

August has come to an end, and summer is slowly being eclipsed by the coming of autumn. This past month as been cooler than normal, almost June like as far as temperature, making us more wistful about summer’s decline. We so often suffer through the heat and humidity this time of year that the oncoming coolness of September is a welcome change.

No summer lasts forever, though we are trying to enjoy as much of its lingering maturity as we are able.

In the late afternoon, the angle of the sun has shifted so that it comes through a gap in the spruce line across the road, hitting the front of the house directly. It is pleasant to simply sit on the large granite boulder that serves as a step onto the front door. The rock is heated well in the sun, and it is inviting to just sit and listen to the waning day.

Cars continue in and out of the farm driveway, as they have all August, and sometimes we hear the muffled sounds of laughter or greeting from neighbors who have arrived by chance at the same time. In the distance, the sounds of some sports practice can be heard from Anna Maria, a reminder that the end of this month also means the beginning of school. Birds call here and there, tempered from a month ago but still conversational – a catbird by the arbor vitae, a dove startled from the roof of the barn, finches at the sunflowers in the knot garden. The wind gusts briefly, first noticeable in the spruce, then coming across the lawn, picking up the few early – fallen oak leaves and setting them in a whirl. The chimes tinkle behind me, and I hear Sarah coming out the mudroom door, screen door spring stretching and relaxing making its distinctive noise.

It is easy to enjoy this in August – to sit and just listen to all that lives around us. It is warmth and pleasure and life in the simplest sense.