September Days

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And autumn’s best of cheer.

Helen Hunt Jackson

It’s always so funny to me how the minute the calendar turns over to September, the social media world immediately switches gears and moves into Autumn and pumpkin spice lattes and boots and blankets. Meanwhile, in my neck of the woods I’m still wearing shorts and flip-flops.

But I get it – Autumn is glorious! There is so much to look forward to. I also wholeheartedly believe that every month has its own special gifts and it would be a shame to skip over a month that has so much goodness to offer. So today I wanted to celebrate September all its special gifts.

The zinnias and dahlias are still going strong.

I love the sights and sounds of hummingbirds zipping and zooming around the yard. Right now these cuties are fueling up before their long journey south, and sometimes it can get pretty wild around the feeders when they are defending their territory.

Right on time, the autumn clematis is blooming. Twining around fences, scrambling up telephone poles, spilling out of tree tops, blanketing the understory brush along the trails. Its charming flowers are pretty enough to look at, but the heavenly, sweet scent is its loveliest attribute (in my humble opinion) and totally rivals the honeysuckle in the spring.

This month means a second wind for my roses. So happy to have another chance to enjoy their delightful color and scent.

This is the time of year when the sun sets more or less due-west and I love the way the evening light casts a warm coral glow on everything it lands on.

Even though it’s still warm during the day (or even hot sometimes), the evenings cool off nicely which means that Daisy can resume her longer evening walks. I don’t who loves it more – Daisy or me.

The Monarchs. sigh….

Yesterday afternoon I saw this beauty in my yard. We are just now starting to see the first Monarchs of the season and I was overjoyed that he came to visit for a while.

Last weekend we had a break from summer-like weather. “California-weather” as my beloved likes to call it. I wore pants and a long sleeved shirt! I texted all my people saying “It’s so beautiful!” Because it was just SO BEAUTIFUL. A reminder and a promise of the wonderful season to come. It was a gift. The kind that only September can give.

Love, Kelly