The Chinese call this time of year “fifth
season.” Fifth season is not summer, not fall, but something all its own.
Here in the western North Carolina
mountains, it’s the time of year when the days are still warm, but the nights
start to get chilly. The light takes on a golden quality as the days grow noticeably
shorter, coating the still-green leaves of the trees in a buttery glow. Queen
Anne’s lace and milkweed cover the fields and roadsides, while coneflowers and
bee balm rule in the garden. Bees busy themselves with storing up for the
winter; butterflies with strengthening for their long migration to the tropics.
It’s not quite the time of harvest, but it
is a time of savoring the last of summer: that final camping or fishing trip;
that last visit to the beach or cabin; the last of the white corn or watermelon
from the garden. In the night sky, the Perseids rain down meteors if you’re
lucky enough to see them. Or thunderstorms dump torrential rainfall if you’re
not.
 |
| Fog in the morning in August=snow in winter in Appalachia. |
Around here, we start counting the number of foggy mornings in August, a predictor of the number of snows in the coming winter, according to the old folks in Appalachia. If we can go by fogs this August, next winter will be a wild one, with lots of snowstorms ahead of us.
In a few weeks the kids will be back at
school (if they aren’t already in your part of the country). Vacation and the
lazy days of summer will be over. Fall will be truly in the air—cold and crisp
and smelling of apples, pumpkins and freshly sharpened pencils. Take a moment
to breathe in the sunshine of Fifth Season before it turns to long shadows and
bright leaves.
Cheers, Donna
(Apologies to Greta on the other side of the
world, where the seasons are reversed!)
I haven't heard of Fifth Season, but yes, we definitely have one in New Mexico and it lingers long into October and sometimes even December, as it did last year. Hmm, perhaps a bit of fodder for my Monday blog. :)
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