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Highlands Today

September Song

Noreen Cullen/Highlands Today

A Gulf Fritillary Butterfly sips nectar from clusters of Paint Brush flowers in the September sunshine.

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Noreen Cullen

Published: September 16, 2007

"Oh it's a long, long while from May to December but the days grow short when you reach September." (song lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, 1938)

Here in the land of sunshine and warmth, it's hard to imagine that summer is nearing the end of its seasonal cycle once again.

Every September the change of season is slightly noticeable when the glaring sunlight takes a shift and the days begin to gradually get shorter.

This week marks the time of the year when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, moving from north to south, and for a brief time during the Sun's transition, the length of day and night will be approximately equal. That Autumnal Equinox will occur on the 23rd and it officially begins the Fall season.

It is often the assumption of newcomers to this state and those residents who are too busy to notice, that Florida has no seasons except very hot weather and then cooler in the winter months.

The subtle seasonal changes ease into place and are revealed mostly by the angle of the Sun, direction of wind currents, stages of plant growths and wildlife behaviors.

The green world that we dwell in deceives us into thinking it's always summer when in fact four distinct seasons do exist in this sunshine state.

Hot, summer-like weather will hang around long after many other areas of the country have celebrated their tree's Fall colors.

The Maples growing throughout the woods and wetlands here in this south-central corridor won't show their leaves in red and orange until later in the year when the coolness moves in and the dry season begins.

The month of September is the midpoint of the year between the sweltering heat of summer and the onset of the cooler, sometimes freezing weather of winter.

There's been a gentleness to these end summer days so far in this peak time of hurricane season.

Soft blue skies as a backdrop to this area's landscapes of vivid shades of spring and summer greens creates a calming effect on our senses.

On September's breezes blow butterfly sneezes as many local species begin to show worn and tattered wings.

The song of September is when a flock of Blue Jays call out to alert the woods that a small herd of White-tailed Deer are walking around and heading to the big Live Oak trees out in my back yard to eat the newly fallen acorns that are scattered about.

A flock of Wild Turkey walk together through tall golden grasses and stop to feed, preen and strut.

Little roaming Alligators lay in flooded roadside gullies alongside tall White Egrets and unsuspecting Cooter Turtles.

The Cicadas in the trees continue their buzzing all day and then the crickets and frogs carry on a night-time chorus.

The light night rains provide just enough moisture to freshen the early morning air and soon the heavy heat of summer will be replaced with the cooler, sun-kissed days of a Florida Fall. The seasonal colors of the sunny yellow flowers of the Primrose shrubs along with the magenta-colored fruits of the Beauty Berry bush are all in bloom now.

Soon the tall native grasses will turn to shades of rusty-brown and golden along roadsides and in pastures of flowering Coreopsis.

Look closely and you may see the Autumn of Florida happening here in the Heartland.

The September song drifts slowly through these lovely end summer days on the warmth of the sunshine and the call of Fall ahead.

Enjoy.

Noreen Cullen is a Florida wilderness artist and photographer and can be reached at ncullenfws@yahoo.com.

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