There are always plenty of hints that Summer is coming to a close and that Autumn is about to open for business, the potato vines die off, blackberries are ripe, so are the tomatoes and the pumpkins start to turn orange, in fact there are subtle color changes all around. The raucous choir of birdsong that greeted me each morning is gone, and birds gather, silently in small groups to feed. When I was very young, we lived near open fields and farmland, each year before school started I can remember seeing red wing blackbirds perched on the fence and fence posts, they are among the first birds to migrate. Birdsong is replaced by the calls of crows and chirping of crickets. At first a few of the leaves on the trees near the highway will go from green to yellow or crimson. The sun is setting sooner, and pulling up weeds is no longer as important as it was a few short weeks ago. Sometimes a hint of ripe apples will carry on the breeze.
Cooler nights and deeper blue sky, each change a subtle one. each a part of the best show there is.
