TBGDN's blog: Summer Fades Into Autumn

Posted on Sep 27, 2014 4:59 PM

I am beginning this post on the last 'official' day of summer. It seems the summer of 2014 came and departed in record time. The normally hot, humid and sweaty days of July and August failed to materialize, or were very few in number. Rarely did daytime temperatures actually reach ninety degrees Fahrenheit during August; And rainfall locally was somewhat high at about four and one half inches for the month! Many of the days felt cool, damp and chilly. Officially (according to the National Weather Service) it was the coolest August on record for the central part of the state. July was also lacking in warmer temperatures. Typically these two months have always been unbearably hot, sticky and humid for as long as I can remember. However, this year was unusually cool during all the summer months, with night time temperatures in August falling sometimes into the lower 40's! With this said I cannot help but notice many unusual weather patterns across much of the continental U. S.

Watching the national newscasts during the past few weeks should have caught the attention of most people. Damaging floods were reported across the upper Midwest, Texas and in some of the New England states. Especially noticed were the ravaging floods across Arizona as a result of Pacific Hurricane moisture flowing inland from the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. I had never seen this much water in such an arid region of the southwest. These weather extremes are tragic, having incurred loss of lives and untold millions of dollars in personal property and homes! Another recent news item this past week concerned the severe drought facing central and southern California. I can only assume the news media are reporting fairly and accurately on these severe conditions. With all this in mind I'd like to explain the two pictures at the top of this post. They are from early October, 2011 when leaves had begun their annual transformation to vivid colors. The next two pictures are of an August 23rd sunset from our back porch at left, and a meadow scene at right near our home. All are within the county, and are easily accessed by vehicle and some on foot. Another topic I like this time of year is the change of plants (especially trees) into their autumn colors. As badly as I hate to see summer go, I truly enjoy the magic show of change in the leaves of shrubs and trees. Even plants in pastures look more like an artist's palette during the transition from summer to autumn. Their colors are transformed into buff, gold, lavender and bronze as shown in the meadow scene at right. Pictures say much more than words in most cases.

Trees, A Poem By Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prestAgainst the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

About The Author
Joyce Kilmer was born in 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was known for poetry that reflected a common beauty of his natural surroundings. His Christian faith was instrumental and prominent within his work as a poet as well as journalist. Mr. Kilmer was killed while serving in the United States Army during World War I in France. He was awarded the prestigious Croix de Guerre (War Cross) for his bravery by the French Government. (I am guessing this was posthumously.) A section of National Forest in North Carolina is also named after him.

I've liked the simplicity of this poem since first hearing it recited in my second grade classroom many decades ago. I remember it was spring with trees and shrubs visible from the hot, stuffy confines of the school building. There was no central AC back then. And there was often a wish to somehow escape this environment of unbridled boredom, torture and lack of interest in the monotony of the only teacher I have ever disliked. I just knew God would punish me because of my intolerance and ill feelings of this dreadful woman! Sure enough: I wound up in her third grade class at the beginning of the next school year! She had been re-assigned. God only knows how I survived that year: Maybe it was the memory of the poem, maybe luck, or maybe an early realization it was for my own good. Setting this personal story aside, the poem has remained a favorite for its simplicity over the decades. And my educational journey from that time was graced with some of the finest and most beloved teachers I've ever known! I don't know just how I got back to my now seemingly 'ancient' classroom: It must have been the years when my interests and ideas were beginning to materialize. At any rate I remember hanging onto studies, subjects and ideas about trees and plants of all kinds, especially the ones we raised at home. Thanks for visiting my blog; I hope you will stop by again soon.


I wanted to focus in this post on the transition from summer to autumn. Trees are the primary indicators that something is going on as we pass from one season to another. And they have been gradually changing their leaf colors as we end this month. Some are even falling. It is a gorgeous time of the month here with almost perfect sunshine and blue-sky days. Nights are chilly into the low and mid-fifties. The trees say it much better than I can!

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