What exactly marks the end of a season and the beginning of the next? The calendar has little to do with it. Despite the subtle changes that slowly happen over days and weeks, one day these all accumulate and the transformation from summer to autumn is all too evident. A lone trembling red leaf sends out the message to all: summer has ended.
Canada geese too announce the message in the marsh with their honking call. The days are getting shorter. Even the sky and waters at sunrise seem different, less warm and more ominous of the darker, colder mornings ahead.
As if to compensate, the marsh grasses glow with golden hues. Do herons dread the colder days ahead as much as we humans do? Warm and wonderful summers are especially difficult to leave behind.
The end of summer means food will soon be difficult to find for many creatures. In the marsh, the woods, and even the house, spiders can be seen diligently spinning their webs in the hopes of capturing the last of the season’s flying insects.
Those who haven’t prepared for the colder days ahead will be singing their sad songs in the days to come.
This post was written in response to Scott Thomas’ End of Summer challenge at Views Infinitum.
All text and photographs copyright Amy-Lynn Bell 2012.