The Locusts are Singing...

Six more weeks of summer. Six weeks until the first frost or freeze.

Gotta say that it is really great to finally be with people again who know what the weather signs are, and who know what's coming. Nice to sniff the air and say, "Rain Comin" and have people agree instead of look st you funny. Nice to know what a "mackerel sky" is - and to have others around you know, too. Nice to walk with the neighbor lady who doesn't look at you funny when you talk about hardening off of plants before winter, but who offers her own experiences and advice.

The locusts are singing. So much to do. Summers are blessedly short here. Real autumn is coming, when the leaves actually turn color and fall off the trees, when the seed pods that have formed dry up and tumble to the ground, when flowers shut down and start preparing their roots for the bedding time. Tme to finish off summer projects and prepare for fall ones. Gather fresh vegies and dehydrate or can them. Get out and restack all the firewood. Prepare the basement entrance for the cold north wind, get everything picked up and put away so that the cold doesn't crack plastic and freeze water to explode containers. Finish off the room upstairs so it is cozy for holiday visitors. Clean and oil the weapons for the hunting season. Put the cracked corn in a bin so no rats end up living in the garage. Figure out a way to replace those two shingles missing way up high on the back of the house. Caulk and seal everything that can be.

Of course it won't happen suddenly, and it won't hit and stay - yet. There will be tolerably warm days, maybe even Indian summer days. But the fall is coming.
The locusts are singing.