Ahhhhh....September: back to school

The shoulder season in Muskoka is my favourite. Here we sit by the lake. No boaters. No screaming kids on tubes. Lazy cat languishes by the shore. The ducks happily patrol the waters seeking food for travel. They pause on our rock, rest, stretch, preen and go back to work munching on greens. Bobbing quietly, and with more of a sense of security than when they were tiny, since the fishers seem to have lost interest. One remains on guard as the others reach for the bottom of the lake and the succulent weeds. These large ducks, formerly the downy ducklings we photographed eagerly, are much wiser and can escape the quick death that took their long lost siblings.

There is a peace and beauty in the song of our wind chimes. The wind makes the leaves dance in a chorus celebrating the new season. Many leaves have changed colour and have fallen in the dry spell that was August. Water washes up on the shoreline, adding a layer of rhythm to the dance. the lake has receeded so much that the beach is greater than ever. The changing seasons bring us a sense of security in knowing that the planet continues to move through its orbit. The light levels have changed. I look out and see that my garden no longer gets the high noon sun as it did. I hope my vegetable ripen in time. The spaghetti squash is doing its best to complete the time old process.

I look forward to the changing of the leaves and the new beginning. Life unfolds as it should. This is the first year in 25 that I do not have to prepare for the school year and begin to build a classroom community. It is bittersweet. There is an excitement to the first days of school. All on their best behaviour until the honeymoon is over. New challenges help us to grow. I look forward to what the new season may bring.l