Tag Archives: Changing seasons

The Last Hike Of (Official) Summer (31)

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“When the seasons shift, even the subtle beginning, the scent of a promised change, I feel something stir inside me. Hopefulness? Gratitude? Openness? Whatever it is, it’s welcome.”
-Kristin Armstrong

It felt really good to get out hiking again. With the start of school and traveling for my daughters hockey team, it makes it difficult to get out as often as I would like. As it is with the transitioning seasons, you never know what the weather is going to be like. It turns out that the last two weeks of August and the first week in September were cooler than it was today.

At the start of the  hike today it was 71 degrees and very humid.  Despite how sticky the air was, a nice breeze fell over the woods at the start and stayed with me the entire hike. As you can see in the picture below, it was still dark when I started at 6:00 am. For the first time ever, I forgot my camera at home. As a result, the pictures here were taken with my cell phone. And…since my cell phone is not on the upper end, the pictures aren’t that good!

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A 6 am photo taken with my lousy cell phone!

The great thing about hiking during these several weeks going into fall is that everything is evolving. You can see evidence of the leaves changing but the majority of the trees are still green. Soon, however, the woods will be transformed-the color, texture and the smell, until is looks like a giant bowl of stuffing. That is why fall is the best season of the year!

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The leaf covered trail with green still in the background.

Happy Hiking!!!

Summer 2017 Mileage:

9/21/17-6.0-181.22

Is It Autumn? It Sure Feels Like It!(28)

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“Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.” 

-J.K. Rowling

“Each moment of the year has its own beauty.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Walking in the woods today I could sense a shift in the seasons. Although it is only September 1st, the crisp air was certainly much cooler than you would expect, even for this late in the summer. You may think I’m crazy, but when you are hiking, you find that every season has its own unique smell. From the re-awakening of the woods in spring to the barren ground right before a snowfall, it is almost as if the earth lets you know it is changing.

This morning, if only for a moment, the distinct smell of autumn enveloped me as I walked on the trail. However, as quickly as I noticed it, it was gone. Let’s hope that the weather continues in that direction and doesn’t return to summer!

Although I am back at school, I am going to count the hikes I do until Autumn begins on Friday September 22nd as summer hikes.

Summer 2017 Mileage:

9/1/17-8.2-160.02

A Life Transformed

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The trees of fall they bend and sway,

All in the promise of a crisp clear day,

But the cold nights come with hopes anew,

With blades of grass now soaked in dew.

 

The leaves have fallen, the sky now clear,

All beauty in time, my heart holds dear,

But we all stand alone when our fears do take hold,

The change of the seasons, a story is told.

 

So as time marches on with loss keenly felt,

Our hearts still in place, the cards have been dealt.

After winters fine wrath has wiped the slate clean,

A brand new beginning can start to be seen.

D.O.A. (Death of Autumn)

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Darkened days now the norm

Temperamental winds usher in a frosty reality while

Falls grasp, tenuous and slipping,

Tries to remember days lost in an autumnal haze.

Fiery reds are extinguished and relinquish themselves to blades coated in a fine morning dew.

Wasting away, the tears of tomorrow are soaked into the earth with the

Promise of a new day.