When we stepped into September, we entered the meteorological season of Fall.  We are most familiar with the traditional astronomical seasons that change at the equinoxes and solstices based on the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun.  Meteorological seasons change every three months and are based on similar temperatures.  This different and more natural way of defining seasons began in the early to mid 1900’s, making it easier for the weather scientists to compare data and weather patterns.

It is beginning to look like Fall in central Minnesota!  The poplar and ash leaves are turning yellow and falling to the ground.

Wild plum trees and creeping poison ivy are displaying beautiful autumnal colors.

Wild grapes are ready for harvesting–by humans, birds, foxes, turkeys–whoever gets to them first.

Asters and sunflowers are blooming in the ditches…

along with abundant goldenrod.

The insects and animals are busy gathering food.  The squirrels have been working hard from morning til night, collecting acorns from our woods and buckeyes from the tree up the street.  The Buckeye tree is one of the first to change color and lose its leaves.

The squirrels carry the nuts to a place in the yard, dig a little hole, put the nut in, cover it up with dirt, and pat it down with their front paws.  How they ever find them again is beyond me–but I do know they don’t find them all, as we see oak and buckeye seedlings growing in places far from the mature trees.

The little red squirrels in particular love the white pine seeds and have labored ceaselessly to clean them from the cones, leaving a pile of debris under the tree.

Some of my work lately has been like the squirrel–I have been gathering produce from the garden and preparing it for later use.  There is great purpose and satisfaction in growing, tending, eating, and storing our own food.  Traditionally–at least after the industrial revolution, we have equated work with a job.  But think about the work of the settlers or the native people before that–their ‘work’ was ‘living!’  And much of that work had to do with the basics–shelter, safety, food, and clothing.  Of course, these days, jobs provide the means to those very same basics.  I hope on this Labor Day we can look at work in different ways–people who go to jobs, moms and dads who stay home with their children, those toiling just to survive and find a safe place for their families to live, students striving to educate themselves, people who devote time and energy to inner work, those who struggle daily with addictions and illnesses who work hard to live one day at a time, and animals and insects who work at ‘being’ what they are.  Blessings to all the workers of the world!

I would like to thank you for reading my posts.  I work to bring you images of Nature and words that may inspire, teach, and promote contemplation.  Many thanks to those who like, share, and comment–it is the primary way for my posts to reach new people.  Nature can teach us about ourselves and make us better people–it’s a great way to work at living a wonderful life.