signs of fall

It's August 20, the Dog Days of summer have passed, and subtle signs of summer morphing into fall are showing up. We were in Chicago for a week and on my first day back at my farmer's market job, apples and fall squash were on the shelves. 

At home, our burning bushes and hydrangeas begin their change from green leaves and white flowers to red leaves and dusty pink flowers.

School busses pass through the neighborhoods, drivers familiarizing themselves with their routes and stops. First time school speed limit signs are in place in front of the high school and middle school. (Why the city and Board of Education waited so long to put these up is mind-boggling). Students are moving in at the university and the once quiet streets and easy parking accessibility are no longer. It's good to see them back, feeling their excitement for a new academic year. Soon the monarch butterflies with their large orange and black wings will begin their migration to Mexico. Their beauty delights, their strength and stamina amazes. 

September 21 marks the first day of fall but Mother Nature and human nature clocks already point us to the changing of the seasons.