One of my friends refers to this time of year as “The Dark Days of August.”  She coined the phrase when her two sons were still in elementary school.  I suppose when you have two young boys running around your backyard all summer, wearing down the lawn, making noise, and testing your patience, things might seem dark in the weeks just before they go back to school.

Then, too, there is the August garden reminding us of our mortality.  Once-thriving plants “give up the ghost” after leaving us their fruit or flower, exhausting their last bit of energy.

Sometimes gradually and sometimes suddenly, things peak, fade, and die.  The days are getting shorter and although the August sun is still hot, there’s a little bit less of it.

Then there are the sounds of crickets.

I had my own “Dark Days of August” moment on Saturday; my mother and I were looking at the melons I planted in the garden.  A few grew well and were delicious, but they took up a lot of space for what they delivered.  My mother suggested I grow something more productive and I agreed.

I’m thinking big pole bean tee pees.

The season is turning the corner; seize this day and all its bright light!