September 10th, 2009  Charlotte, Vermont 

Okay. Who hit the switch?

Every year it happens… Every single year. 

With the waning days of August giving way to the chilly taste of September, school aged kids and adults scurry to get settled back into their routines. Endless trips to Staples, the latest fashions in clothing, homework, kids trying to fall asleep earlier than their summer clocks allowed and waking up bleary eyed and grumpy as the crush for the bathroom resumes.

But the other switch that’s as noticeable and reliable is our weather.

Have you felt it? The crispness in the air. Morning dew on our windshields, mist hovering over Lake Champlain, ponds and rivers in the early morning hours…

Have you heard it? The late summer crickets in their evening symphonies…

Have you smelled it? Farmers in their fields cutting, harvesting and fertilizing for next year…

Have you seen it? The sun setting earlier. Our recent Harvest full moon, Jupiter glowing bright red, colors on the edges of our forests and meadows turning…

Have you tasted it? Our gardens and CSA’s are in mad harvest to our dinner tables, apple cider is flowing again, cider donuts (yummmmmm) and the sweet smells of our orchards…

And what is it about the sunsets this time of year in Vermont? The angle of the sun to the earth to Vermont. The clouds. The air. Sunsets are amazing in the early stages of fall in Vermont. Some of my best photographs seem to come at this time of year!

The bugs are gone. The hiking is better. The kayaking is better. Colors abound. The gardens are full. And we are having the most incredible stretch of sunny, warm, beautiful weather I can remember. Pushing three weeks now. June and July’s incessant rains have become distant memories.

So, get out into Vermont. Hike the Long Trail in our lovely Green Mountains. Kayak the Paddler’s Trail on Lake Champlain. Take your bike through the Shoreham, Panton, Charlotte and Shelburne orchards along the Lake Champlain Bikeways route, or simply take a drive up Route 100.

Before we recede into our homes with the advance of colder days to come, it’s time to stay outside just a little longer. Time to notice all the bounties life in Vermont affords. Time to savor summer’s memories…

PLEASE add your own comments here at Hurd’s The Word. If you have questions about buying a home or property, please call me at 802.238.5256 or email me at Chris@ChrisHurdVT.com