The animals are changing, too. They're on the move. A rafter of wild turkeys passed me in the woods this morning and didn't even so much as look in my direction. Their eyesight is so keen and I know they must have seen me, but they had to hurry on their way, you see. It's the same for the deer. They're taking to the deer paths again, and soon there will be a lot of traveling amongst them. The rut will be starting in a couple of months, and the females have to fatten up as much as they can. The squirrels have begun gathering and hoarding food again, too. They squabble with one another in the treetops. Sometimes I think it must be a moose passing by with all the noise, but I look up only to see that it's two squirrels arguing over an acorn.
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| The leaves are starting to change in Midcoast Maine. |
It isn't just the color of the leaves, though. The sound is different as well. The winds are changing, and that means they're blowing differently through the leaves, which are in turn talking to me with a different tone. It's anticipatory and slightly frantic, and as the days go on, it will become evermore so.
And the scent is different, too. Fruits and seeds are ripening everywhere--edible and non-edible. That heady aroma of plant fruition surrounds me and is almost intoxicating. There is also the smell of rotting--of fallen leaves, fruits gone by, flowers browned and drooping. It's not a bad smell, though, at least I don't think so. I've always liked it. It is the smell of culmination, of a job well done, of the time to rest now.
Yes, it has begun. It's subtle, now, but soon it will proceed at an alarming rate. I will keep you informed. The winds of change have arrived.
