Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thoughts of time
For who knows where the time goes?.........Sandy Denny
Summer is doing it's best to hang on as long as it can, despite the lengthening nights and the overnight nip in the air, it's not going anywhere just yet. Walking round reserve at 7.30 this morning it was distinctly warm since the sun has been up for an hour. Some Swallows and Martins still skimmed fast across the grass but they're not tarrying to think about it any more, the few that are left are in a hurry, South is calling, it's whispering gently on the breeze, "hurry up." Red Admiral butterflies were hurrying in their fluttering way in the same direction, the reed beds are quiet, everything is leaving. I stood and watched and wistfully hummed the above song to myself and thought, who knows where the time goes?
Back home in the garden this afternoon, summer still played tricks with me, sitting there in my shorts it became almost hot under clear blue skies. Bees and Large White butterflies were as busy as ever, feeding hungrily on the purple flowers of Verbena bonariensis and the white flowered Alliums. No they were saying, we don't think summer is over yet and it certainly felt like that was the case.
Time - a dimension over which none of us mortals have any control. I'm sitting in a bar on Kefalonia pondering just the same thoughts! "Where has that holiday gone?" Take care - Dyl
ReplyDeleteA change is in the air in these parts, as well. We actually pulled up a flannel sheet on the bed last night! Well, for a little while anyway. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written Derek. Time is such a strange thing isn't it? Some days go slowly and some go quickly. It is the same with the seasons I think. Here we still have young swallows testing out their wings around the farmyard but no doubt they will vanish before long. I do enjoy your walks around the reserve.
ReplyDeleteWell it is two hours since I posted those comments and it's almost 7pm and dusk is settling in and it's getting chilly, so I guess time is plodding towards winter. Thanks guys for your comments and Wilma, I always imagine that a sheet is the extent of your winter bedding there.
ReplyDeleteI zipped over here from The Weaver of Grass' blog. I read how dry you are and wondered where you were located. On Sheppey the Isle of Kent.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Good to hear from you Linda.
ReplyDeleteSlightly the other way round though, the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. A small, roughly 10x8 mile island in the Thames Estuary.
That song, Derek, is my all time favourite... thank you!
ReplyDeleteRe your comment on my blog. Come on - anyone can make a cottage pie. Buy some beef mince (good quality) and fry it off in a pan to drain off the fat. Then mix it with chopped small carrot and onion, add a good slug of gracy (easy to make with a stock cube). Put it in the oven to cook and while it is cooking boil potatoes and mash with a good blob of butter (and cream if you have any). The put the cooked mince into a dish, cover with the mash and pop in the oven until the top is browned (painting the top of the mash with butter will help it to brown quickly and it will look delicious).
ReplyDeleteIt shall be done Pat.
ReplyDelete