Here in West Virginia, many of the signs which mark the end of summer have made their appearances. The first chilled morning fogs have been hiding the morning sun for the past few days until well past ten o'clock. The first flocks of geese, wedging their way southward, honked their way over the farm a few days ago. I have discovered lavender asters blooming down by the creek. The thistles are starting to release their infamous silver-silk seeds into the wind. Hickory nuts, as large and as green as limes, are dropping down upon the porch roof and sounding as if someone were stoning the house. Virginia Creeper, a vine which decorates many of the trees here, is abandoning its former green in favor of bright shades of red. Yellow leaves are now mixing into the few chartreuse ones which remain on the Black Walnut trees. Hummingbirds seem to swarm around nearly every flower in the garden. They seem to know that they will need the extra energy in only a few days when they begin their long journey southward. The acrid resins of the milkweed has been marvelously assimilated by the Monarch butterflies which are even now following the blooming of the goldenrod southward toward Mexico.

I note these things and feel both the end and the beginning of two of my favorite times of year. What a show!