Fall is upon us as the weather starts to mellow out, with chilly mornings and beautiful clear days. The hot summer hazy fades away into deep blue skies that set a beautiful backdrop against the rapidly changing leaves.

Things are still green, but not for long. Leaves will start to fall, then be raked on up and dumped in compost piles throughout the day. Last year's foliage will rot away and create fertilizer for beautiful spring plants and crops for next year.

The garden has come and gone. We've consumed many of it's goodies, and stored away others. Everything else will succumb to the fall frost, turn brown, then eventually be eaten by the chipper. In the spring it will be plowed under for another year.

Things were holy during the summer, and now they are not. The hot fun in the sun, swimming in the pool has become just a memory. Now we spend more time in the woods hunting for deer and turkey, and remodeling the house before the snow comes and destroys what not completed.

Is summer ever really over? No not for good, as the fun we enjoyed for those magnificent 16 weeks will come back again another day, just as the snow will come in another 4 weeks. ATVs and tractors will be put in the shed, and snowmobiles will come out.

We'll come back to our families and sit around for some winter fun. We will be enlivened by the love and celebration of the holidays from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas. There will be food, and lots of it for all of us to enjoy.

At the same time, there will be some sadness. With shorter days, we will be unable to spend the time outdoors, and will be stuck sitting at our desks, writing and reading to explore our world in a solitary manner. It gets harder and harder to do things after work.