Autumn Came Early
Aug. 31st, 2022 11:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
denebalgedi777The Sun is in Virgo, and just as I suspected, the feeling of industriousness returned around the time of the Ingress. I have always associated the early fall season with a return to hard work for obvious reasons. But this year it is particularly strong because the autumnal conditions began before the second part of August came to its end. Up to that point, we had a very hot spell in July and a prolonged dry spell from late May until the end of July. The heat only abated in the middle of August, and the dryness came to a dramatic end with a series of strong thunderstorms. The weather represents a decisively shift in the pattern.
The past month has been very busy, which is why I have not kept up my local reports to any degree of consistency. The month of July ended with a friend’s bachelor party stretched over 2 days. It was sunny and the heat was blazing. The weekend involved jet-skiing, lunches and dinners out, gaming, and clay pigeon shooting. I met some new and interesting people, talked to some old friends, had novel experiences and got a sunburn, which I really try hard to avoid. The crowds and bustling activity were the most I’d seen since before the pandemic.
There was a very strong sense of 1990s nostalgia in this kind of a gathering. It reminded me of the gatherings of my youth. I say this in a spirit of optimism and good times. It was the distilled spirit of the Sun in Leo energy. There were no quarrels beyond the good-natured kind, most of the talk was very constructive, and many stories were told of the olden times. The only tragedy of this kind of thing is that it takes place so much less often as one ages. People spend too much time bustling about and not enough time enjoying the simpler and better things in life, and camaraderie is one of these.
The incident of the bear was never properly resolved. Though they set out traps for the miscreant, he gave them the slip. He never was caught, he just wandered off one day, and I never saw him again. The gentleman across the street, who is slowly recovering from cancer treatment, seemed to know much about bears, and said that he would be looking to mate around this time of year. So, there being no females of his kind around the valley, his impulse was to move on, and so he did. Evidently, the region around St. Croix and Pierce counties still is home to many bears owing to much contiguous wild land for them to hide out in.
Apart from that, the wildlife visiting the yard now is stable. For a while after breeding season, we regularly had the indigo buntings in once again, though they seem to have disappeared in the past week. We had many orioles visiting in the past month also, though they were mostly absent since the start of breeding season. Many birds are going through a late summer molt and look scruffy. But all of our regulars are still around: the crows, jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, finches and cardinals. I have seen turkeys and deer but with less frequency. Everything is looking a bit greener than was the case a month ago, and so the look and feel of late summer represents a night and day difference from a month ago.
The most notable thing of all is that the trees began to turn very early. I went on a day trip with a friend in the middle of August. Already, some maple trees were showing signs of turning in his area (Carver County MN). This has now begun in earnest in my area as well. Trees and forbs are turning in the Kinnickinnic Valley and environs. Already one can see reds, violets, oranges and yellows, though it will be a good while yet before this is a universal thing. But autumn is unfolding well in advance of its usual course, even if it will be delayed a bit by a late summer warm spell that’s only just beginning. It does not appear that it will be a lasting one.
Meteorological summer is over after today. September looks to start out with a run of fantastic weather of the sort usually encountered in California – sun, mildly warm, comfortable humidity, and a breeze. The summer went by very quickly in a way that really shocks me. This summer was undistinguished relative to events – I did not do so many adventures as in past years, I did not visit the old social dance club, nor did I attend many events or go much to the office. There were good reasons for that. The gas prices remained high since my May-June trip, and this influenced my choice for a “lying low” kind of summer. But still it passed with celerity. The only unusual events apart from the bachelor party were going out a handful of times, some day trips, and my customary summer voyages to the lake country which is kind of an ancestral home and pilgrimage destination for me now.
Time has had a strange quality ever since the lockdowns that began in 2020. It has an unpredictable and almost nonlinear character ever since the whole rhythm of everyday life was disrupted by the shutdowns. For example, the past year went by blurrily fast. My adventures in the north country and around these parts a year ago could have been yesterday. The intervening time seems to be filled with a hypnotic sameness for much of the time. Perhaps this was to be expected with moving to a new place. On the other hand, the events of 5-6 years ago seem to be twice as long ago as that. So much has recently changed in the world that perception is completely thrown off.
The summer felt very leisurely despite its sedate character. Perhaps such a period of rest was needed after the frantic activity of much of last year. But now, with the fall onrushing, I feel the very strong urge to return to industry. The cool mornings, the mist, the colors are all things that spur me to activity. I have a book to finish, edit and publish, among other irons in the fire. There are many new things I still want to learn. I have people to correspond with and new people to meet. There are important events and travels upcoming. With summer’s end, not for a long time has the feeling been so strong that a new chapter of my life is now unfolding.
The past month has been very busy, which is why I have not kept up my local reports to any degree of consistency. The month of July ended with a friend’s bachelor party stretched over 2 days. It was sunny and the heat was blazing. The weekend involved jet-skiing, lunches and dinners out, gaming, and clay pigeon shooting. I met some new and interesting people, talked to some old friends, had novel experiences and got a sunburn, which I really try hard to avoid. The crowds and bustling activity were the most I’d seen since before the pandemic.
There was a very strong sense of 1990s nostalgia in this kind of a gathering. It reminded me of the gatherings of my youth. I say this in a spirit of optimism and good times. It was the distilled spirit of the Sun in Leo energy. There were no quarrels beyond the good-natured kind, most of the talk was very constructive, and many stories were told of the olden times. The only tragedy of this kind of thing is that it takes place so much less often as one ages. People spend too much time bustling about and not enough time enjoying the simpler and better things in life, and camaraderie is one of these.
The incident of the bear was never properly resolved. Though they set out traps for the miscreant, he gave them the slip. He never was caught, he just wandered off one day, and I never saw him again. The gentleman across the street, who is slowly recovering from cancer treatment, seemed to know much about bears, and said that he would be looking to mate around this time of year. So, there being no females of his kind around the valley, his impulse was to move on, and so he did. Evidently, the region around St. Croix and Pierce counties still is home to many bears owing to much contiguous wild land for them to hide out in.
Apart from that, the wildlife visiting the yard now is stable. For a while after breeding season, we regularly had the indigo buntings in once again, though they seem to have disappeared in the past week. We had many orioles visiting in the past month also, though they were mostly absent since the start of breeding season. Many birds are going through a late summer molt and look scruffy. But all of our regulars are still around: the crows, jays, chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, finches and cardinals. I have seen turkeys and deer but with less frequency. Everything is looking a bit greener than was the case a month ago, and so the look and feel of late summer represents a night and day difference from a month ago.
The most notable thing of all is that the trees began to turn very early. I went on a day trip with a friend in the middle of August. Already, some maple trees were showing signs of turning in his area (Carver County MN). This has now begun in earnest in my area as well. Trees and forbs are turning in the Kinnickinnic Valley and environs. Already one can see reds, violets, oranges and yellows, though it will be a good while yet before this is a universal thing. But autumn is unfolding well in advance of its usual course, even if it will be delayed a bit by a late summer warm spell that’s only just beginning. It does not appear that it will be a lasting one.
Meteorological summer is over after today. September looks to start out with a run of fantastic weather of the sort usually encountered in California – sun, mildly warm, comfortable humidity, and a breeze. The summer went by very quickly in a way that really shocks me. This summer was undistinguished relative to events – I did not do so many adventures as in past years, I did not visit the old social dance club, nor did I attend many events or go much to the office. There were good reasons for that. The gas prices remained high since my May-June trip, and this influenced my choice for a “lying low” kind of summer. But still it passed with celerity. The only unusual events apart from the bachelor party were going out a handful of times, some day trips, and my customary summer voyages to the lake country which is kind of an ancestral home and pilgrimage destination for me now.
Time has had a strange quality ever since the lockdowns that began in 2020. It has an unpredictable and almost nonlinear character ever since the whole rhythm of everyday life was disrupted by the shutdowns. For example, the past year went by blurrily fast. My adventures in the north country and around these parts a year ago could have been yesterday. The intervening time seems to be filled with a hypnotic sameness for much of the time. Perhaps this was to be expected with moving to a new place. On the other hand, the events of 5-6 years ago seem to be twice as long ago as that. So much has recently changed in the world that perception is completely thrown off.
The summer felt very leisurely despite its sedate character. Perhaps such a period of rest was needed after the frantic activity of much of last year. But now, with the fall onrushing, I feel the very strong urge to return to industry. The cool mornings, the mist, the colors are all things that spur me to activity. I have a book to finish, edit and publish, among other irons in the fire. There are many new things I still want to learn. I have people to correspond with and new people to meet. There are important events and travels upcoming. With summer’s end, not for a long time has the feeling been so strong that a new chapter of my life is now unfolding.
