Starburst, Concord, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

Hmm! Today is the last day of September.  I am realizing that the last week or so had a certain ambiguity.  It was a cross between the wild flowers of late summer and the emerging autumn colors in New England.  While the flowers are still clinging to life, prodded on by temperatures on Sunday in the eighties Fahrenheit,  there is a certain evolving dryness to plant life.  What is left behind by summers flowers are delicate skeletons with lacy patterns that bear the spirit if not the color.  I came upon the starburst of Figure 1 in Concord, MA this past Saturday.

The more robust of these patterns will linger into winter and will delight us as they pop up defiantly through the snow pack to endure frigid winds.  But those will lack the delicate remnant of spider webs.   We have to agree that summer is over, even if nature tries to fool us with what is here referred to as “Indian Summer.”  We hold our collective breath and await the glory season.