Jim Gilbert's Journal

September 18, 1998

     Signs of Autumn

In autumn we go from grasshoppers on goldenrod flowers in September to snow on evergreen boughs in November; from swimming in the still-warm lake water to skating on new pond ice; from picking garden-ripened tomatoes to carrying in firewood; from lush green sugar maple foliage, to the glowing golds with burnt oranges and brilliant reds, and finally to stark trees resting in dormancy but ready to yield sweet sap next spring.

There is a sadness in the air; the sun is changing. Our days shorten, but the change is more than a matter of day length, for there is a rhythm in all living things. Winter, the season of survival, is coming, so autumn becomes not only the season of harvest and color but also the season of preparation.

Squirrels and deer mice gather large quantities of fruits, especially nuts, eating some but storing a good supply for later use. Farmers must dig potatoes and sugar beets, pick corn, combine soybeans, and take in the last cutting of alfalfa. American toads must cover their bodies with soil, digging down more than a foot to stay below the frost level. Autumn is the season of great movement, the great migration. Chimney swifts must leave Minnesota to catch insects in Peru, while brown thrashers spend winter in our southern states.