Some Place Between Then and Now

Different folks have different favorite seasons. Some enjoy the heat and sunshine of Summer; others the bone chilling cold and blowing snow of Winter. I always have a hard time choosing between the two seasons of change - Spring and Autumn.

I really enjoy the glowing warmth of Spring especially those sunshiny days in late February and early March when it looks blindingly bright outdoors and the sunshine warms through even the stiffest of winter coats. Of course, there is also the Spring migration of birds - especially the wood warblers - as they move through my area headed to the reaches further north to nest and raise the next generation. The Spring woodland flowers also begin the season with danty bloosoms long before the last of the snow has melted away and the traditional blankets of flowers fill the landscape. Spring brings warm days and adventures outdoors after the long Winter.

Autumn is also about warm days. But on the other hand there are those wonderful, sleeping weather cool evenings when the temperature dips down into the 50s overnight. Rather than the brightly colored migrants of Spring, the Autumn migrants are drab and less dazzling in their colors as there is little need to attract a mate this late in the year. Unlike the Spring migrants, shorebirds are much more clearly seen on the dwindling mudflats of Autumn. Stopping on their journey South this time, they stock up heavily on the small plants, insects, fish, and others that they find in the shallowing waters and mudflats. They gather in swirling mixed flocks of plovers, sandpipers, stilts, gulls, and terns all feasting on the water's harvest.

In the gardens and orchards, the hardiest of vegetables - main potatoes, winter squash, sweet corn, and the like are in full season making the tasty delights coming from the garden plentiful and varied. The trees in the orchards are beginning to show signs that soon they will give up their bounty as well providing, pears and apples, as well as late stone fruits. The grape arbors are become weighted nearly to the breaking point with handfuls of green, red, and purple grapes.

Just as Spring is the season of beginnings, Autumn is the season of endings. The mirgrants who pass through this area will soon be gone. The plants in gardens will be dried ghosts of their former selves before being gathered into the compost bin. But before making that journey they will have given their harvest to feed those who tend them and those who don't. Before long, the crackle of autumn bonfires will be the crackle of fresh snow and frozen puddles. And while Autumn is the end of Summer, like Spring, it is also the new beginning - of Winter the season of planning and hopes.