Reassured by Nature…

A gentle rain softened the early morning this day. Long overdue and not nearly enough but raining it was. The earth and I gratefully drank it up. Outside my kitchen window while pouring my first cup I watched our two red and white dogs sniffing and exploring. Fixated on certain areas they excitedly moved in random patterns. Back and forth while in consultation with the other. An unknown overnight traveler or two had undoubtedly left scents of great interest to these aging pups.

With my hot cup of coffee in hand I made my way to our front porch to wait for Holmes and Watson to finish their avid investigation. I stood quietly while the leaves danced and fluttered on a waning summer breeze tinged with the prospect of a changing season. A grayness had settled over our rural landscape. The scorching days of summer now seem a memory as I scanned the forever acres of emerald that blanketed our remote world. Vermont.

My breath slowed in the comfort of the familiar while my eyes continued their journey. A single tree with leaves a deep rusted orange shone lonely in the sea of green. I smiled in acknowledgement. The bounty of popcorning colors displayed in vivid shades of red, yellow, and orange will soon stretch across the hills.

“But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.” ― Stephen King