Proposed Title: The Sounds of Fall
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” - John Muir
The rhythm of the cricket’s night time melody is slowing down. As the night air cools, the cricket’s energy level seems to wind down, their song slows, and their mellow chorus starts to lull us into lethargy. It is a sure sign that fall has arrived.
Some people dread fall. To them, it is an end to the carefree days of summer and the anticipation of tougher times ahead with the battle of winter on the horizon. To them, the trees are not turning, they are dying. To them, the season of light is over and the season of darkness has arrived.
With the autumnal equinox coming up in a few days, whether we embrace fall or not, it is going to occur. I for one have found memories of fall and appreciate it more and more as I have gotten older.
Growing up in Illinois, I remember hearing and then seeing flocks of geese heading south for the winter. On crisp September mornings, an odd honking sound would appear from high above and you would spot them flying in huge V formations. It was both exhilarating and sad at the same time. The sound of thousands of geese was awe inspiring, but the realization that summer was truly over and that winter was on its way was a little depressing back then.
When it was time for me to go to college, I followed the lead of the geese and headed south eventually ending up at The University of Texas. The honking of the geese was replaced by the cheering of college football fans in stadiums across the country on Saturday afternoons. This new obsession would prove to be a wonderful distraction for the transition from summer to winter.
When a new job found me relocating to the state of Colorado, a new sound of fall was waiting for me in the meadows of Rocky Mountain National Park, the sound of elk bugling. This sound seemed to embrace the idea of it being fall. The bulls seemed to be saying, “Bring it on”. The rut represented the continuation of life with the hope of rebirth in the spring.
In Colorado, the notion that winter was coming to humans was good. Winter meant snow. Snow meant skiing. Skiing meant fun. And in the meantime, we could embrace the change of seasons by getting outdoors and taking it all in.
Hiking in Colorado in the fall is awesome. Cool mornings on the trail help to ease the exertion level of strenuous hikes that squeezed perspiration out of you like a sponge during the warmer summer months. Cobalt blue skies along with the yellows and the oranges and the reds of the aspens await you as the season progresses. The season’s first snows frost the higher mountains and the sounds of the elk bugling echo throughout the valleys.
The noisy crowds of summer are long gone on the trails. Your chances of seeing that Bull Moose munching on willow branches in the mist of the early morning increase. You hear the sound of the crickets as they continue their ballad from the night before. The solitude of the trail helps you to reconnect with nature and embrace the season. This helps you to slow down like the cricket’s song and fondly remember seasons past and at the same time look optimistically forward to seasons to come.
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