Sunset in Elkins, WV
Shorter days. We long for the coming of June and Solstice when the days stretch from 5am to 10pm, but by August I am ready for something more reasonable. I want to stop work before I drop from exhaustion and enjoy the shadowy dusk as it creeps up from the hollows and across the gardens.
Cool evenings. It may be hot during the day, but evenings begin cooling off by 6pm and it's possible to turn off the air conditioner and enjoy sitting outside again. After July's record heat, the coolth of August evenings is a blessing.
at the end of Joe's Run, this little cabin rests quietly beside Mill Creek
Night music. Cicadas, tree frogs and unidentifiable insects and critters fill the dusky evenings with song far into the night, like a concert to reward hard work.
August moons. They come up red and set that way, sending a rosy glow over evenings and mornings. Too pretty to miss.
Meteor showers. This August we are graced with the Perseids on the 13th, a show not to miss, all for free.
Abundance. The gardens pour forth everything from squash to corn to herbs, grapes to wild cherries to peaches. It's a time of richness, of too much of everything. Even in this drought year we still have more than we can use.
Hints of Autumn. Some trees are giving up on summer already and their leaves are turning yellow and red, harbingers of what is to come. The roadside wild things are in poor shape from lack of rain, but the blue chicory and white Queen Anne's Lace are rampant and lovely to look at.
Goldenrod and ironweed. Bright gold and royal purple begin to brighten summer-weary fields like visiting nobility.
Black Krim tomatoes. This is the first year we've raised these and I am so impressed with their taste.
Ripe, ripe tomatoes. Early tomatoes are often eaten too soon in our eagerness to taste their freshness, but by August we're more complacent and willing to let the tomatoes deepen into that rich ripeness that drips off our chins.
What's your favorite thing about August?
Love your list!
ReplyDeleteMine follows pretty close to yours.
Top of my list is definitely the beginning of cooler autumn days .
Shorter evenings...great for sitting around a fire.
The sound of crisp leaves just beginning to turn and blowing in the wind.
That's just a few. Fall is my most favorite time of the year!
I'm enjoying that coolness right now! We usually don't need A/C until 1:00PM or so and it's almost always turned off by the time NBC Nightly News signs on. At the moment I'm even considering turning the window fan off because I'm getting a bit chilly!
ReplyDeleteI remember the cabin. Was it ever lived in? I never saw anyone there and thought it was such a quaint place.
ReplyDeleteIt was, Robin. Lenore Waggoner and Eddie lived there early in their marriage. I am sure there were others who lived there before them. Before the Civil War there was a store right at the mouth of Joe's Run. According to one book I read, the Union soldiers during one of their raids (maybe the Jones-Imboden raid?)poured all the whiskey in the store into Mill Creek and set it on fire and the fire went floating down the creek. I don't know if this little cabin was the store building but it's close to where the store was probably located.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteI love that it's cooling down, even though it's still hot, atleast it's a little more tolerable.
And I love that I just finished up my next to last semester. Yay!!!