Summer’s end

Dear Editor,

Did you feel that? I know I did, when summer turned to autumn.

For me, it came as a sudden chill, making me shiver, as the sun set on a warm and sunny day. Like a roller coaster reaching the high point of the track, the feeling of elation, followed by gravity grabbing you once again, and here we go hurtling downward toward chores and concerns, long-overlooked.

On John Prine’s final album, there is a song called Summer’s End; “Summer’s end, around the bend is flying…”. Just now, I feel that message very intensely.

The garden is no longer getting better – it has done its growing, flowering and fruiting. Now it’s time to start pulling weeds and spent annual plants, mulching down the soil for next season, those of us who are counting on there being a next season.

I look forward to the time when the snow flies in my face, because it means that the blackflies will leave me alone for a while.

I think that having four distinct seasons is part of what makes for a balanced life here in the nearly-north. I’ve seen reports of things that happen in perpetual holiday areas, the craziness that comes from being always warm and carefree just piles up, and people have less incentive to (literally) chill, and let their brain catch its breath.

Robert Wills,

Thorne and Shawville