The asters started to bloom. I always watch for them. There's an old wife's tale up here in the Rockies, that asters predict the beginning of autumn. The tale says "Once you see the asters, there's 8 more weeks of summer."
To that end, I've been watching the wild asters for over 3 decades and they have been a good indicator for arrival of fall. The earliest I've seen the asters bloom is June 15 and yep---we had an early fall. Today I saw the asters growing in the understory of the forest. I look for them everyday and I was thinking that it's about time for them to show their pretty faces. Today is July 14 and I saw the first of the asters. IF the asters can predict anything, then we can expect fall to arrive about September 14. That's late for fall in the high country. BUT, if my asters are telling the truth... ... ...watch this space for the arrival of fall.
That brings me to Old Wife's Tales. Are they real? Do they predict what might happen? I'm guessing that an old wife's tale is a "real thing." They were "created" as it were, by women (and men) who lived on the land and paid attention to it. Back in the day, long before cell phones, the internet, meteorologists, scientists, the 24 hour news cycle and such things, farmers paid attention to the land and the weather and the gifts they provided. They kept calendars of when each type of flower bloomed, when critters gave birth, what critters ate, when birds arrived in the spring and when they flew away in the fall. Putting 2 and 2 together, the asters told the story of the growing season. If there are 8 weeks left of summer, then it's time to think about getting ready for the fall. Here we have a 60 day growing season and getting ready for the fall is important. SO, the asters started to bloom today. Sadly the summer will end in 8 weeks. It's time to get supplies for the fall and the winter. It's time to think of rain and snow. It's time to think about "snow birding" to warmer winter climes.
But I digress. We still have 8 glorious weeks of summer. Sunshine and warmth; flowers and trees; calves and fawns. The beat goes on. In this political season the beat goes on too. I do not write a political blog, but I don't live in isolation. For information about politics, please go to the other DrCs blog. In this one I'm going to talk about fawns and flowers. Remember, we're all in this together.
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