Summer's End
Monsoon season is over now, both officially and practically. The desert is drying again after a second unusually wet summer.
As is often true of autumn, it’s a time of mixed emotions. Even here I will miss the presence of summer a little, but autumn and winter are times of renewal and growth in the desert. I already see an influx of butterflies seeking a warmer climate to winter in. So on the whole it is much more a time of wakening and new beginnings.
But all the same there is a slight feeling of wistfulness as the summer’s grasses dry out in the heat of early autumn. After all, the days haven’t cooled very much yet!
Late Gold
Golden are the drying grasses;
Golden is the sun;
And though autumn breeze blows warmer,
Summer now is done.
This tritriplicata watches a group of busy Gambel’s quail as they bustle along on their own business. They are such personable neighbors!
Quail Covey
One by one,
Each with topknot bobbing
Up the path rain cut through the canyon,
They follow each other
On tiptoe.
And lastly, this brief haiku from last night.
Slowly up the hill
as moon rises behind me,
I am a shadow.