The days are definitely getting shorter, and the yard has changed accordingly. Tired leaves litter the grass. The roses bloom erratically, producing smaller and smaller flowers with less and less scent. Few dragonflies remain, only a handful of Blue Dashers.
Spiderwebs lend the yard an autumn feel, harbingers of Halloween and the brittle months to follow. And there’s a silence, under the muted cricket chorus, that sounds like an echo of winter.
No more robins, no more blue jays, no love-struck doves on the fence. Only an occasional mockingbird, and even they tend to hide from view, flitting through the wax myrtle as if they would rather not be noticed. Or photographed.
So the yard reflects summer’s dwindling hours, despite the lingering heat. And I’m torn between sorrow and anticipation, a permanent state in the last few years. Tomorrow is always exciting, mysterious and unwritten. But today is satisfying, too. As for yesterday? Well, yesterday wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I was kind of sorry to see it go…
Rae Spencer 
Dragonflies were very common at Lake Martin in Central Alabama in the 1970’s. Here in Tennessee, although the weather is muggy and hot, a few leaves are falling, more out of exhaustion than any attempt to signal a season change. Summer just is beginning to look a bit weary.
Can’t agree Not for us, it’s still hot hot hot. Beautifully captured dragonfly though. That, everybody can agree on.
It’s still hot here, too, though not like earlier in the year. And the heat feels different, to me. A little more light shows through the trees. Dead leaves are starting to accumulate along the fence, and in the cobwebs, so there’s always a gold reflection in the corner of my eye. Somehow it feels like fall is creeping in, even if summer isn’t quite ready to release the yard…
Great photos of dragon flies. I was always mesmerized by them flitting over the lake when I was a child. Such strange beauty.
“Strange beauty” is the perfect phrase. I don’t remember seeing that many dragonflies, as a child. They were rare and special. That might be why I’m so fascinated with them now.