August 2 and I notice the first red leaves among the sumac at the edge of the field. My neighbor’s bringing hay, one round bale at a time in the back of a pickup, into their barn. Brown leaves drift and eddy around my car as I drive down the road. Fall’s on its way, and the extended heat wave and lack of rain are accelerating the process.

It wasn’t until I lived this close to a piece of land that I really noticed these changes, and how they creep so suddenly so fast. It’s August and I can still feel last winter’s chill in my body. Time to wisen up to the accelerating wheel and lay myself down on a hot rock by a river and let my belly get sunburned.