September 22, 2008

• …if there is one word that perfectly describes September in the Ozarks, it must be ”golden.” 

                        

   If you live here, you will not have been able to miss seeing the abundant masses of golden sunflowers lining ditches and fields everywhere.

                                      

  The fluffy frond-like blooms of goldenrod are now opening along fencerows and roadsides, adding their richness to the display.

                                    

  Walnut trees, some of the first to lose their leaves, turn golden before they are brown, and even the hulls of some of the nuts are this color. Soon, the hickory trees will don their fall outerwear, as their broad leaves shade from green to brightest yellow, illuminating the forest in a perfectly magical way. Even the grass that covers lawns, hillsides and meadows, as it begins to prepare itself for a seasonal rest, pales and lightens, taking on a yellowish tint.

  If we lived where farmers grow row crops, in September we would find satisfaction in endless flat fields full of soybeans and cornstalks turning golden. The hoppers of massive combines churning across the acres would fill with the harvest of a year’s worth of labor, pouring golden into grain bins, and when there was no other storage left, mounds would grow right on top of the ground, indicating a bumper crop.

  Here in the hills, however, we’ll settle for seeing the corn and green beans in our gardens begin to turn. We’ll gather up the dried cornstalks into bundles and tie them to porch posts or prop them up with bales of golden straw, to use as fall decorations, celebrating our personal harvest.

                         

  Yellow and other colors of gourds and mums, fall’s favorite flower, will accent these dried arrangements, with colorful, un-scary scarecrows peeking out to make us smile.

                              

  But like a beautiful woman, perhaps the most alluring element of September’s attraction is her most subtle one, a quality that can hardly be captured but is detected almost imperceptibly. To my taste, September’s light is her best feature. For as the days of this month pass into history, the sun drops farther and farther into the southern sky, slanting away from the harsh, intense glare of summer, and bathing the entire landscape in a soft, golden glow. Even on the clearest, brightest blue-sky day, the light is soft and easy to soak up.

                                       

  As the days noticeably shorten, light becomes more precious, and one does not take it for granted. This is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the gifts of nature. Less humidity makes even a warm day seem comfortable, and a walk down a country lane reveals beauty all around.

                                    

  The golden flourish of wildflowers at eye level is most immediately obvious.

                                    

  But look up and find even more to enjoy. Wild plums are hanging red and ripe, weighing down the branches of this small, understory tree.

                                   

  Looking for all the world like cherries dangling from limbs, these will not last long as wild creatures enjoy their tartness.

  On down the lane, the buckeye trees are already beginning to lose their leaves,

                                    

  revealing gnarly seed pods almost ready to drop. Their hulls begin to dry and split, allowing a glimpse of the shiny brown seed inside.

                                 

  When it pops out, it is easy to see how this tree got its name, for the light brown spot on one side gives the seed a remarkable resemblance to the eye of a deer. This year, the pods seem exceptionally large, indicating that some of them will bear two or even three seeds within.

                                 

  An oldtimer would often carry a buckeye in his pocket, believing it to bring good luck to the bearer. Some even thought of it as a talisman to ward off rheumatism. Maybe a small boy would pull one out and load it as ammunition into his slingshot. Or perhaps during a tense encounter it was simply soothing to reach into one’s pocket, to finger the smooth skin. Although not good to eat, what a multitude of good uses this seemingly useless nut has!

  After last year’s almost nonexistent walnut crop, a glance up through the branches of a large tree reveals that plenty will soon fall. Already the hullers are setting up shop throughout the countryside, in anticipation of truckloads gathered to sell. Even though the dark stain colors the hands and fingers, the results are worth it when one takes the time to pick out some of the delicious meat for winter baking and snacking.

  Golden yellow butterflies flutter over the fields, searching for a fortifying drink from a stray alfalfa blossom, before they head south for the winter. Glimmering like jewels in the sunlight, these delicate-looking creatures must, in fact, be strong and of good courage as they face an endurance test like none other: flying miles and miles to find a winter refuge.

                                 

  Long-legged yellow grasshoppers hungrily devour leaves as they, too, prepare for the coming cold weather. Squirrels scampering through the treetops vie with each other for the choicest morsels, while the birds sing the last of summer’s song. Harvest is not only for humans.

                                   

  As the month wanes and the days shorten, there is much to anticipate. The brilliant colors coming in October will be the last hurrah before winter’s starkly beautiful landscape appears. But right now is one of the very best times in the Ozarks, and before these golden moments flicker and fade, I hope you’ll let September add a little of her light to your life.

  • 6:55 pm
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