Photo Diary - Stubbornly ignoring the signs of Summer's end

Every year the last glorious days of Summer give way to that “back-to-school” feeling of September. This year we set about documenting this shifting change in nature.

The shift from later Summer into early Autumn is so clearly signposted. But probably you, like us, stubbornly want to ignore the clues each year. This summer, we tell ourselves, is the one that will last forever. Then in late August each year that back-to-school feeling manages to catch us off guard.

Looking back a few weeks, the first hints of the seasonal change are easily ignored…

In early August the deep greens of midsummer leaves turn so subtly to a slightly warmer shade of mossy green.

Then, along comes the Rowan tree berries … bright red and cheerful, glinting in the summer sun. How cheerful and bright you say to yourself.

As August rolls on we catch the tail end of the North American Hurricane season. The winds have tamed as they cross the Atlantic Ocean but for a few days the west coast seas whip up into an explosion of froth and waves.

One windy day you notice a tree heaving with crab apples. You make a mental note to come back to it, to gather some apples. In that same moment, you shake off the strong Autumnal signals the tree is broadcasting.

After the storm dies down, you casually pluck blackberries from a hedgerow. You naively let the juice explode in your mouth and saunter on in the sunshine.

Fishing for mackerel off the pier one evening your notice your ankles getting unexpectedly cold. You put the cooler damper weather down to the light breeze coming in off the sea and resolve to wear socks on your next excursion.

The evening sun is casting long shadows, you notice it catching the watery high tide sheen on the beach stones. The sky glows pink.

As you head home from the beach and it is unexpectedly darkening. You check the time - thinking you must have stayed out longer than planned. And yet when you turn on the car radio the Rolling Wave is just beginning on RTE radio. It is not later, it is just getting darker earlier.

Back home you pull down the blackout blinds in the bedrooms. Back in June you were so smug about your clever blackout blinds. You took such joy as they instantly plunged the room into a very convincing midnight. Now, it is redundant.

Then it happens… the morning fog. You know the fog will burn off as the sun rises in later morning … but the mood is turning slowly and you can no longer ignore it. That “back-to-school” feeling is more and more palpable with each passing day. These are the last days of Summer and the close onset of Autumn is undeniable.

But for now… there are a few days left in August, and you’re aiming to savour every last minute of every last one of them.

THE END.