Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Full speed into fall


Today it feels and looks like October. The sky is dark and overcast. A north wind rustles the forest and makes the dogs want to run and misbehave. Twilight lasts about 10 minutes now, and the sky no longer remains light long after sunset. Fall is tightening its hold.

Yesterday was a good day for migrating. I’m not talking just about raptors, though I suspect plenty of them were moving south, too. Around the cabin, I saw little birds, songbirds, in small groups of 6 or 12 heading south, dropping into the trees near sunset to roost. I found an eastern phoebe in one of Roundtop’s parking lots, the first time I’ve seen one in that spot all year. I suspect that bird was a migrant and not one of the summer residents. Most were sparrows, but as they didn’t alight near me, I never got a chance to identify them.

Spring and fall are such dynamic seasons, with changes in the air or on the ground visible daily. Stay inside for a day, and you miss a lot. That’s such a change from summer and winter, which both feel more static to me. It takes a while for me to catch up and get used to the speed of the season. I think both summer and winter can lull me into a false sense that time doesn’t move very much. Then fall or spring comes along, and the world moves in overdrive.

2 comments:

Grizz………… said...

Though I'd never thought about it in such a way before—it is so true how winter and summer seem to move much slower than spring and fall.

Yesterday and today both cloudy and cool; jacket-wearing weather. It's only 49 degrees out even now, and has been about that (47–49) since before midnight. Not much change. Inside the cottage, it's 58 and I'm probably going to build a hearthfire for the first time this season a bit later on, when I finally get around to lunch.

I did see a humming bird at the feeder earlier today, and one or two several times yesterday. It has to be one of the last I'll see until next spring.

Carolyn H said...

Griz: I'm going to hold off on the heat for a while. I don't mind being cold for a few days. Next week it's to get a bit warmer and heat won't be needed then. I'll just throw another cat on the bed, and that will keep me warm. I don't think I'll need a dog up there just yet.

Carolyn H.