Change of Seasons

The honey locust are turning yellow. Have been for about a week now. Lifting my eyes to the horizon I sense deep greens yielding to thinner greens; a hint of yellow and gold; and maybe a hint, too, of orange. Other younger trees are more bold; they are turning crimson and orange. But hey, they are just whippersnappers daring to flaunt their colors early!

The temperatures start mild to begin the day then quickly warm to mid to upper 70’s. Maybe an 80 or so? Nights are cool and damp in the 60’s. Daytimes, however, are dry and very rarely humid. This weather describes the Midwest in September. Hopefully October will be similar with crispier nights in the high 40’s and mostly 50’s. Daytimes in October, though, will mostly be in the 70’s with an occasional dip into the 60’s. Days will be dry and the air ‘soft’ as my father in law used to say. I like that phrase – the soft air of October. It is very much like that here.

And so as a wonderful summer ebbs into fall, we are still not sad to see the foliage go. Great weather is ahead of us for the next several weeks.

Then as we approach Thanksgiving the climes chill, the leaves drop, and emerald green lawns provide the perfect backdrop for the russet leaves scattered near and far.

2017 has been a terrific weather year in the Midwest. Period. End of story. We cannot often say this. Normally the winters are fierce, very cold and loaded with snow and ice. This year was not like that; only short snaps of cold, short snow storms quickly melted. It was a winter easy to ‘weather’ and gratefully so. Early fading of winter into an unusually warm and early spring was our experience in 2017. Then a cooling, some rain to green up the world, and finally summer was here. But not savagely hot and dry. Moderate temps and occasional rain kept our surroundings green and verdant for most of the season. And now fall.

We can imagine forward to November and December. With hope we will have a gracious fall and gentle start for winter. That would make 2017 one of the kindest years of all for us in the Midwest. Will we remember this like we do the winter of 1978-79? I hope we do. 2017 has earned it’s A+ rating.

Not so for the rest of the nation. Drought and fires along the west coast; forest fires, too, for them. Hurricanes and tornadoes for the gulf states and Florida. The eastern seaboard weathers deep hurricane aftermaths as it did the earlier rainy season with floods and severe weather.

It seems the Midwest was the place to be this year! But soon enough it will be January and February. One wonders what will happen then? The snow, ice and bitter winds are sure to visit us again. With the wonders of 2017 still fresh in mind, we can take those icy futures in 2018. For now, we bask in the soft air of September and October.

May we remember it well.

September 18, 2017