By Jonathan Wright
With September getting cranked up tomorrow after a fast-moving June, July, and August, we now boldly enter the last third of 2013.
Time marches on.
It’s always impressed me how early the signs of fall start appearing in the Greenbrier Valley. Here high in the mountains of the Alleghenies, we start sensing the first traces of it in early August, when cold fronts coming through start dropping nighttime temperatures into the 50s and sometimes even into the 40s.
Even daytime temperatures, although they can still be sweltering, alternate between hot, not-so-hot, and downright cool. The break is always welcome by nearly everyone.
The lower thermometer readings are just enough to get folks thinking and pleasantly remarking to each other in spite of themselves, “There’s a touch of fall in the air.”
The resulting foggy mornings provide another indication that summer is winding down. Those who have to get up early to drive to work must exercise more caution as they negotiate hills and valleys—especially valleys—permeated by the thick mist. These foggy mornings are nothing less than a clear sign that summer is on the way out.
Then, of course, are the changing leaves. Whether you’ve lived here two years or twenty, you’ll easily notice that trees start changing way, way early here in our valley, some as early as mid-August. You don’t have to drive far in any direction around here to find trees that have stayed green as long as they can: they’re anxious to give up the chlorophyll and show the pigments that have been waiting several months to push through to the surface.
The pumpkins are getting ripe, corn and tomatoes are being harvested like nobody’s business, and Halloween stuff is on sale in local stores. Can fall festivals be far behind?
Such is life here in our neck of the woods in September. Enjoy it to the fullest. Get out and take in all the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. It’s one of the most exciting times of year in the Greenbrier Valley.
But hurry—winter’s not far behind.
As if you didn’t know.