News : On the Eve of Summer

By Faith Hunt Naturalist

Step out at dusk and feel the eve of summer greet you. Feel the air as a new breeze moves in, making the midday heat dissipate with ease. Be still. Watch the grass follow suit. Steady as the atmosphere changes, so does the world around you. Did you feel that? Pg 5 On the Eve of Summer

Enjoy the ever so beautiful sunset as it disappears over the horizon, trading its place in the sky with the crescent moon, and sparkling constellations. Watch as a meteor soars through the space above you. Did you see that?

Listen to the fading songs of cardinals and robins, as their music is traded for the chorus of frogs. Eastern grey tree frogs belting and bleeping, cricket frogs clacking, and the out of tune banjo strum of the green frog trying to amplify. Witness the bullfrog's race across the vegetated water, plump legs plopping the waters surface, racing for the prime locations - hoping a listening lady is close by to hear their song. Jug-o-ruuum! Jug-o-ruuum! Did you hear that?

Watch. Feel. Listen. The bugs come out slowly, then all at once. Not long and the bats join in to save the evening. Ever so slowly, so gently, the firefly flashes join. One at first…then two…then you are surrounded. Enjoy the yellow-green strobes of light - if you are lucky - you may see an orange flicker or a blue flash. Sometimes, their glow isn't acknowledged, but one must not give up. The show must go on - they must continue to shine. Watch as the male timberdoodle performs its ever so graceful sky dance - soaring like a swirling tornado going up into the sky, then delicately falling back down like a falling leaf. With big risks come big rewards. May the tree frogs always be reminded that no matter how small, their voice is mighty and deserves to be heard. Witness the decades old snapping turtle dredge her way through steep ditches, cross busy roads, for her to find the perfect spot for her offspring to continue her elegant legacy.

The eve of summer is a beautiful place. May it remind you of life's many transitions. May you greet what's next with an open heart as if it were the eves of summer. Watch. Feel. Listen.