Signs of Change

This is the time of year, when its time for summer to move on.  Its the time of year when we are weary of !00 F temperatures and dry grass under our feet, that makes a crunching sound with each step.  It is the month when we begin to feel hope that things will be changing and that in the next 8 weeks there will be a need for a sweater.   I took a bit of a wander around the place the other day, looking for natures signs that things will indeed change, despite what seems like never ending heat.   Horse Apples fallen to the ground, food for the animals, leaves dry and fallen to the earth.  Berries ripening in the sun, and skyscapes that have a different look to them, a change, subtle perhaps but still visible to those who watch the sky daily.  Birds passing through in migration.  Edgar and Allen, our wild crows that come to visit daily, are louder, more frequent at their food.  Last night they both took a dip in the duck pool. It was fun to watch.  A large Red Shouldered Hawk sat above them in a tree, watching with a confused look.  Poe arrived a few minutes later but watched his elders with some cautiousness.   Later, all three of them sat on the same branch, two cool crows and one young one with beak open, hot.  I am no fan of the hot summer.  It is my time to hibernate, to sit in the cool house and wait for the time to pass, with hand work keeping me busy.  Summer in the South is like Winter in the frigid north.  You make adjustments.  But, now, with the signs showing, ever so subtly that cooler weather is around the corner.  I feel happy, knowing that it will once again be time for long walks, hikes on weekends and for lazy mornings on the porch just breathing in the scent of fall time.