Harbinger

My garden mums, formerly known as Chrysanthemums and now properly known as Dendranthemums, are beginning to bloom. These plants are, traditionally, harbingers of fall, but here they are already blooming in mid-August. I guess they’re always a bit on the early side, but I really find it startling to see them come into flower this soon.

Mind you, these are only the first of the fall plants, and both the asters and the sedums have yet to join the stampede, so we are not yet witnessing a passing. However, we are being alerted that autumn is definitely on its way. Whether one holds that it arrives when Sol crosses the equator in late September, or when a certain plant booms, or when the first leaf changes colour (or the last one for that matter), fall creeps relentlessly forward.

We typically sigh when we think of the approach of autumn because we know that winter is right behind, and it is common to think ill of winter. I don’t think we really mean it, for there is something very positive to be said about living in a four-season climate where each season offers its own gifts. The benefits of fall and winter may be less obvious than those of spring and summer, but they exist.

I won’t go on because many summer plants yet bloom, and there remains plenty of time to ponder more deeply about seasons and life. Nevertheless, nature has alerted me that the wheel yet turns.