it's not good-bye but farewell

I found this postcard on my step this morning - this is what it read;

My dearest Michel,

We've had a wonderful couple of months you and I but now I must go. Autumn is on its way and I need to make room for him. I will never forget the sunsets we shared over the lake and that evening we strolled through the park. Do you remember that night? I will never forget it. I gave you a few thunderstorms because I know they are your favourite and although I tried to keep the mosquitoes off you this year, I just can't compete with a force like that. What is it with you and the mosquitoes?

Anyway, in a few weeks, when things start to get cold - the wind picks up and it seems unbearable - close your eyes, put your hands on your face and feel my warmth on your skin. It's not good-bye but farewell.

I will return. I promise and when I do you will forget I was ever gone.

Yours,
Summer

So its official. Summer broke up with me - I knew it was coming. I will get over it with the help of my good friend Autumn - it is a big help when he brings me the golden dancing hues like the one pix-olga captured here. Wow. Summer who?

I'll miss you,
Michel
xox

untitled by pix-olga

rough around the edges

To me, dandelions symbolize the start of summer.  Those beautiful weedy flowers blossom and in some cases cover entire fields of grass, bringing color back from a dreary muddy season.  In my search for an end of summer shot, it dawned on me that the dandelions are few and far between this late in the season. I found that this beauty, already half taken by the wind, signified perfectly the end of summer.

This beautiful image by Monica Photography, shares the same consequence.  Beautiful golden petals saying their last goodbye to summer and welcoming the new season.

April :)

the end of summer by monica photography

 

The chill in the air

Summer is my absolute favourite season. I wait all year for those long days and short nights, for the heat, the dresses, the holidays, the meals in the garden, the paddling pools, the lollies. The end of summer is something I am always in denial about; not until the trees are nude do I concede that the season might have changed and winter is on its way. Again. As the days lengthened in April, we celebrated each glorious lavender sunset (courtesy of the Icelandic volcano) by going to our local park. We jumped down the hill in sheer delight. Because we could. Because we wanted to. Because summer was starting.

And as we sensed we were heading into the final days of summer, we visited the park again, trying to recapture some of those moments. Instead, perhaps because of the chill in the air, perhaps because we could, perhaps because we wanted to, we lay on the grass and looked at the clouds, lit up by the sunset. We talked about autumn and made plans for cosy nights indoors and the snowmen we would build.

I chose Erika's picture because it symbolised her personal farewell to summer in such a simple but effective way. And I loved her words as she said good-bye to all the things that made Summer for her.

Good-bye to summer.
Good-bye to lazy 365 days. Care at least 50% of the time.
Good-bye to long days.
Good-bye to humidity.
Good-bye to the flip-flops.

51: 365 by {.erika.}

nature's treasures

I am a collector. When I walk in the country, at the beach, or even in a city park, I scour the ground for treasures. The little treasures Mother Nature offers up to us, if only we look. A speckled shell from a bird’s nest, a butterfly sadly preserved in her colorful glory, a feather tipped with blue. I have a wooden tray that sits out year round where I collect these natural treasures. The items change with the seasons, but always there is something on the tray, a gift of natural beauty.

When sun-filled summer days fade, the nights become cooler, I know it’s time to pack away the summer keepsakes and fill the tray with autumn riches. Smooth shiny acorns of chestnut brown, weighty hickory nuts, ready to burst open and expose the treat inside, a perfect leaf, turned to a blazing yellow. No matter the season, treasures abound if you just slow down and see them.

In the photo, end of summer,  I found exactly the kind of treasure I would love to bring home for my tray. What about you? Do you collect natural treasures?

♥ maureen

end of summer by blue elephant photography

end-of-summer delight

Cape Cod is a summer place. Memorial Day weekend kicks off the season with a flood of eager visitors, and then on Labor Day the tourists and summer residents head home, back to school and jobs and real life.

If only they knew that September and October are the best times to be here.  The days are warm and  nights are cool enough to pull up a cozy comforter.  The beaches are nearly empty, and the lines at the ice cream stands are gone.  There's a sweetness in the air and a certain slant of light that us year-rounders savor -- our own special secret delight.

The photo below,  we are all wanderers on this earth,  evokes this same kind of secret delight --can you imagine a whole field and sky that's all yours, to share with a friend on a late summer afternoon? 

I've loved seeing your end-of-summer images.  Leave a comment and tell us more about what you savor most about this time of year.

Until next time.

--lucy

We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams. by Stephanie Caldwell

golden days

Growing up in eastern Canada, school never started til after Labour Day weekend (the first weekend in September for our non-North American muses).  So that last weekend of vacation was our chance to cling to summer before retreating inside to desks and books until spring.  But I loved the change of season.  Summers were hot and humid where I grew up and autumn was all golden light and crisp, clear blue skies and crunchy leaves beneath my feet.  And although I embraced the transition, there was always that delicious sense of melancholy as one season ended and another began.

The days grow shorter and an after school visit to the park with my daughter resulted in just a few moments of sunshine before the sun dipped behind the trees, where a few weeks before it would have stayed bright until past dinnertime.  The swings and monkey bars quiet.

Sam's image of laundry hanging outside to dry evoked the same feeling for me - clothes sun-bleached and fragrant in the last days of summer as she "looks out on a world still green, but fading, rusting, muting much too fast."

Welcome, golden light of autumn.

cheers,
mosey

september days by sam brightwell

fall approaches fast

The days grow shorter, it is getting colder. Fall is coming. The leaves are turning and the sun is showing less.  I love autumn. Because of all the fun stuff we do when the cold season comes. I love movie nights and the togetherness on a cold evening. And of course, I like to snuggle when it is getting colder.

This picture from chicadecasa really means end of summer to me. The turning leaves are always a highlight for me.  I really loved her words on this picture so I chose to share them and remind us of a fresh start.

"I was walking along, in wonderment at the suddenly cool weather and the excitement of fall, when I saw this lone leaf lying on the ground. I carried it along with me until I found the perfect place to photograph it. The simple falling of a leaf is something most people don't pause to ponder, but it can mean so many different things. It can symbolize a beginning or an end. It can stand for falling from a great height or being picked up at your lowest point. It can point to the fact that the possibilities of summer are gone, and the chill of winter is on the horizon, or it can remind one that with the changing of seasons comes a fresh outlook on life. To me, it's a little of all of them."

Die Tage werden kürzer, es wird kälter. Der Herbst kommt. Die Blätter wechseln ihre Farben und auch die Sonne zeigt sich weniger. Ich liebe Herbst. Weil wir eine Menge Spass haben an kalten Herbsttagen.
Ich liebe Filmabende und das zusammen sein an einem kalten Tag. Und natuerlich mag ich es an kalten Tagen zu kuscheln.
Das Bild von  chicadecasa bedeutet Herbst für mich. Der Farbenwechsel der Blätter ist immer ein besonderes Highlight. Ich mag die Worte die sie zusammen mit ihrem Bild gepostet hat, deswegen habe ich mich entschieden, diese mit euch zu teilen. Sie erinnern mich an einen neuen Start.

Love, Suki

 

autumn beginnings by chicadecasa

timeless transitions

You know summer is ending in our little town of Vedano al Lambro, in Northern Italy near Milan, when the barricades and fences start to appear in the Parco di Monza, and street signs come up to direct people to VIP parking, shuttle buses and paddocks. The second weekend of September brings the Formula 1 races to the Monza Autodromo, just a couple of kilometers from our home. Whether you follow motorsports or not, you cannot escape the effects of this major international event when living in this small community. The crowds in Ferrari red descend on race weekend, and when they leave there is nothing left but a few forgotten signs and the feeling that summer is irrevocably over. Long before we moved here, long after we leave, it will continue to mark the transition into autumn for this town.

This gorgeous photo from Aimeelmk had the same feel for me. Harvest shapes the end of summer for farming communities, in a similar timeless way. It always has and always will. These transitions shape the personality of a place, give it an identity beyond architecture and history. Are there shared events that signal the end of summer in your neighborhood or town?

Kat

Stacked Swathers by Aimeelmk

beach treasures

The children are off to school, tourist season is still a few months away, and daily rainstorms are cooling things down. As a Floridian, I am happy to say goodbye to the sweltering temperatures of summer.  It is now time to get outside and explore our local beaches with a camera. 

This past week, I visited Blind Creek, one of Hutchinson Island's more secluded beaches.  Without a lifeguard giving me curious looks, I got completely lost behind my lens.  Had you been hiding in the seagrass, you would have seen me completely uninhibited... lying on my stomach in the sand to get just the right angle for "wave bokeh", chasing tiny sandpipers like a toddler, gingerly walking in the surf with my beloved Nikon, and collecting seashells.  The featured photograph by htemko captures my feeling of blissful beach solitude perfectly.

After all these years, I am still in awe of the little gifts that Mother Nature leaves upon our shores. My last trip yielded me several perfectly intact seashells, splendid sea urchins, and bits of seaglass. After uploading my photographs from the day at the beach, fellow muse Lucy in Massachusetts sent me flickrmail saying that she loved seeing the differences between the Cape Cod and Florida shells and asked me if I was interested in a "beach treasure exchange."  Such a great idea! 

So, as I box up my shells to be mailed, I am looking at my recent beach stroll not as the end of my summer, but as the start of a new friendship.

Have you ever thought about asking some of your flickr or blog friends to send you some of their treasures? It could be a postcard, a photograph, some artwork, or unique collectibles from their area.  Go ahead and do it.  Think of all the new items you will collect.  Besides, who doesn't love getting mail that is something other than bills? Take a moment and leave a comment telling us what you would send a new friend.

stay sweet. ♥ tammy lee

happy bench monday::and then it was over by htekmo