Goodbye summer, hello fall

To all appearance the summer's pomp was still at it fullest height, and although in the tilled acres green had given way to gold, though rowans were reddening, and the woods were dashed here and there with a tawny fierceness, yet light and warmth and color were still present in undiminished measure, clean of any chilly premonitions of the passing year. But the constant chorus of the orchards and hedges had shrunk to a casual evensong from a few yet unwearied performers; the robin was beginning to assert himself once more; and there was a feeling in the air of change and departure. --The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows is our latest read-aloud. We have been plodding through its pages rather than skipping through like we normally do, Toad is just too much for me, and I weary at our discussions regarding how selfish he really is, so that my littles don't fall in love with his charm. It would be easy to do if you weren't paying attention. Although the contrast between Toad and his faithful friends is worthy of good dialogue too.

I was impressed at the timeliness of the passage above, summer appears to be in full swing outside. But inside our family the business of fall has set in and the lazy days are gone, we are in go-mode with no end in sight. I am desperate to squeeze in a few more mini-hikes before it is too cold to venture far beyond our house. So desperate in fact that Mikey and I got up very early to go watch the sunrise from Badger Mountain on Saturday morning.
Although it was too cloudy to see the sun peak over the horizon, we did see our first woodpecker! Some bird tracks and snake tracks proved to be interesting specimens. We used a big rock and Mikey "orbited" around it to explain how the sun rises and sets. It was "stealth school," homeschool science at its finest!

Hope you are enjoying the last bits of summer.