When I was a kid, my family called the cicadas of summer "ree a rees" because of the song that would suddenly appear out of the hot quiet of our farm on some June evening at dusk. Their calling card is a vocal announcement of the peak of heat and humidity and endless hazy days in the south. Their chorus means that the garden is gettin' close to harvest and the AC bills are quickly on the rise. Their circadian rhythym is surprisingly right on when it comes to matching the dates on the calendar. The first day of summer was last week, and they tuned up one evening shortly thereafter.

Hearing their song reminds me that it won't be long until me and my Mama will "see fall" for the first time. Our unique gift has been poo-pooed by family and friends over the years, but we still maintain that it is a precious blessing. While the heat rages for weeks on end and pools and ice cream freezers are used daily, we watch each and every early morning and late afternoon to see what we know will surely appear. My mom isn't an outdoors person at all and she will be the first to admit that. She asked me yesterday to go out and take a picture of that "daisy out there in the yard". I searched and all I found was a bud but nothing blooming. She said "Lord, girl they're everywhere." It was the black-eyed susans she was talkin' about ;) My love of nature came directly from my Dad and I cherish it. But about this time of year, I start lookin' for fall even though there's not a cool front in sight. The air is still and stagnant and begs to be washed clean with a good dose of thunder and lightning.

Seeing fall is tricky business when the temp is 95 and it's an ordeal just to get into an overheated car to go somewhere. I guess that's why we use it as a survival technique to see ourselves through the dog days. It's a subtle change in the shadows and the way that they fall through the trees and across the grass and it is a glorious sight. First there will be fireworks and watermelon and lots of flags. But sometime shortly after that the promise of fall will appear, briefly at first and then lingering a bit longer each day until finally...FINALLY, a front will make its' way across the country and the air will clear a little and we can survive another day that is summer in the south.

I'll let you know when I see it. ^j^