Summer's End

I recently came across the lyrics to a song on a beautiful blog called, "The House in the Roses," which is written by a lovely lady named Cielo. If you haven't discovered Cielo's enchanting pictures and stories, I hope you will visit her magical House of Roses. I'm sure it will become one of your favorite places.

The song I mentioned is called Summer's Almost Over, and was written by Cheryl Wheeler. I'd like to share these beautiful lines ...

Summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know why,
Sentimental old fool, weeping for this blue, blue sky,
And the way the cat is sleeping and the way the garden grew,
Wagging dogs who lick my face and the way I feel for you.

Who could help but welcome autumn and the promise of the winter snow?
Still there's something sweet and wistful as I watch this lovely summer go,
But the sun is sinking sooner and the weeds have won at last,
With the berries on the bushes and the crickets in the grass,
Oh, summer's almost over and I'm crying but I don't know why.

Isn't that lovely! Thank you, Cielo, for letting me share it here at Southern Lagniappe.

I would also like to share a few pictures I took yesterday afternoon while walking around in our yard. I was thinking about the lyrics to that song, and found several signs that mark the passage of summer.

These are the last two lingering blossoms on our Crape Myrtle trees ...

Our Sasanquas are loaded with buds ...

They will look like this when they open:

I love the way this little rosebud's tip looks as if it's been "squashed." It's probably one of the last roses we'll have.

I think the faded rose pods are pretty, too ...

I captured these leaves on a Sycamore tree whose branches hang over our back fence.

They're almost as big as a dinner plate and are so pretty in the tree, but when they start falling in the flower beds, they're not so pretty.

I just happened to look into our cobalt gazing ball and couldn't resist capturing the reflection of an iron arbor in it.

I like this shot of the fleur-de-lis finial on the arbor, too.

I'm not sure what these shiny black berries are. They are growing on a vine in a tree behind our fence, and look like little glass marbles.

My lagniappe for the afternoon came in the form of this little emerald green chameleon who was playing on my glass butterfly feeder (you can click on the pictures to see him up close, if you'd like).

I bent over to photograph a fading Lantana bloom and captured a little bit of serendipity instead.

These little guys will be leaving soon.

Farewell, little hummers — Godspeed!

" ... There's something sweet and wistful
as I watch this lovely summer go."