The Turn of the Season

There's a change in the air. Can you feel it?

Here in Wisconsin, though the days are still warm, nights are beginning to cool down. The sky has taken on a deeper blue; here and there a leaf flutters down from a tree. Socks are making a comeback. Geese and sandhill cranes are holding travel seminars, where they look at slides of last year's vacation and listen to lectures on "Finding a Family-Friendly Marsh" or "Chlorine in Corporate Ponds: Is it Harmful to Your Health?"

My tomatoes have belatedly realized that yes, it is indeed summer. In a fine, if tardy, burst of enthusiasm, they've finally produced some fruit - a few of which are actually beginning to ripen.

It's about time!

On the allergy front, ragweed, chernopod, and nettle continue to flourish, wreaking havoc in sinuses everywhere. Benadryl sales are booming, and eye drops are flying off pharmacy shelves.

All in all, it's an exciting time of year - but I view it with mixed emotions.

My higher, or gardening self, would like the warm weather to last another month or two. (More tomatoes! More basil!) My lower, or allergic self, would welcome a hard frost tonight - anything to nip that ragweed in the bud. (Less sneezing! Less blowing!)

Given the choice, I think I'd plump for tomatoes. But it's out of my hands - out of all of our hands. We shall have to be philosophers and cheerfully take what we are given.

How do you feel about the approaching change of season?

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