September 22

Autumn officially begins at 4:44 pm this afternoon, according to the astronomical figures in the Farmer’s Almanac. Whether we like it or not, it is time to bid farewell to the summer, at least formally. The change from one season to another is a slow successional process, after all, and the evidence of summer’s waning has been distinct enough the past few weeks.

The trees around town are showing signs of fatigue, with limbs that seem to bend lower, laden with nut or fruit past ripeness, or burdened with leaves that are given more to yellow and blight. There is still plenty of green yet, but it is far different from the vibrant hues of lime and Kelly which signaled the youth of months ago.

Tomorrow there will be less daylight than darkness, a celestial turning point in equinox that forgives the natural world to accept the fatigue and ultimate dormancy that comes on the heels of late fall. Tomorrow there will be more leaves in the road, newly fallen with resplendent colors and whirling about in wind carried dust devils. There will be gourds of all shapes and jack-o-lanterns, and bittersweet berries that ripen in beautiful reds against their orange husks. The purple asters remain, defiantly showy against the sere tall grass, made so by the frosts that have come early.

Notes: 

Sunrise at 6:50 and at 106 degrees.