Ordinary Midweek Sunset, Leelanau

Late Summer's Subtle Tones

Tall mullein spikes are flowering, and milkweed leaves are turning brown and gold, amid the lavender carpet of pesky, invasive spotted knapweed. If only the beauty of that invader's blossoms did not tint entire hillsides and fields with the color that tells us summer's end is drawing nearer --. If it were not quite so successful in taking over, it would doubtless be easier to hate. Instead, when morning walks or evening drives take me past open expanses in their August hues, I am carried back in memory to long-ago August vacations, the one or two weeks Up North that my downstate job permitted, and I feel again the poignancy of that fleeting time.

Late Summer Scenes (Worth Four Thousand Words)

White Chicory

August Morning Skies

On a day that turned rainy,

the morning sky was golden.

A sunny day began with blue sky,

rose-tinted clouds,

and, up high, a little waning moon.

Late August, Cloudy Skies

Like Cheri on the Atlantic coast, 

I've found my eye drawn to the skies; 

unlike Cheri, I have no deep thoughts 

brought out by the clouds.

Rain or shine, 

it's still August.

I Never Tire of These Scenes

Once again, the dreaded pest, spotted knapweed, adds its lavender to the green and gold of August fields. Aesthetically, from a distance, if you don't think about what it does to native plants and, therefore, birds and other species, it's possible to see it as beautiful.

I love the shape of that lone tree out there, too.

These tranquil scenes are a peaceful beginning to my busy August days in my bookstore in town.