Saturday, October 04, 2008

Round Robin: Summer's End in a Land of Endless Summer

Looks like the fruit on this palm has gone brown.

Yes, it's Round Robins time again! This week's topic, The End Of Summer, was suggested by Janet of the blog Fond of Snape a little over a year ago. We just had to wait for summer to end again so we could play along!

A few brown leaves - probably due to drought

Living in Tucson makes a topic like this one kind of tricky. The end of summer in my childhood memories was about a last day of riding the waves on Lake Ontario, or heading back to school, or picking apples off our tree in the back yard. It's about a new chill in the evenings, early October rain, and the tinge of yellow or red started to spread across a maple leaf. I can't show you anything like that. There are no waves to ride, the only apples I see come from the grocery store, and I have no kids to show in new school clothes, getting on a bus. The rainy season is over here, and by and large the leaves don't change color.

As for a new chill in the air, check this out:

Friday, October 3, about 5:30 PM

Not exactly chilly, is it? But compare that with the first day of autumn, when it was 98 degrees at 6 PM, or the many times over the summer when the temperature broke 110.

It's getting harder to visit the dog park before sunset.

One sure sign of the end of summer is that the days cease to be longer than the nights. That means an earlier sunset.

Imminent sunset looking across Country Club Road.

Heading home around 6:10 PM Friday.

Another sign of the end of summer is when the annuals finish their growing season - assuming they haven't already been killed off by scorching heat or drought or caterpillars or, um, dogs:

Cayenne checks out the edge of John's garden.


Two months ago, this flowerbed was full of annuals.


Only a few plants remain in bloom.

"Nooo! I can save them!" John exclaimed (in jest) when I told him I was photographing the dying annuals.

To be honest, though, my personal summer ended nearly a month ago, on September tenth. That was the day my 90-day employment contract ended in Oro Valley. I ended that day on a curb with my shoebox of personal possessions, taking a few last pictures with my Sprint phone:



Be sure to check our Welcome Entry and Rules of Play if you're new to the Round Robin Photo Challenge and would like to play along. Meanwhile, be sure to check out the other Robins' farewells to summer!

Linking List

Janet - Posted!
Fond of Snape
http://www.fondofsnape.com/

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Wammy - Posted!
The Ellis Family
http://www.theellisfamilycincinnati.blogspot.com

ellen b. - **Welcome, New Member!**- Posted!
The Happy Wonderer
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/the-end-of-summer/

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Connie - Posted!
Far Side of Fifty
http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/

Erin - Posted!
Life of a College Student
http://erinminusguidedogs.blogspot.com

Gattina - Posted!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/

Nancy
Nancy Luvs Pics
http://journals.aol.com/nhd106/Nancyluvspix/

Kiva - Posted!
The Eclectic Granny
http://eclecticgranny.blogspot.com

Valerie - Posted!
Soulfully Blonde
http://soulfullyblonde.blogspot.com

_rRose (new blog!) - Posted!
WAIT-NOTYET- MOUNTAIN RIVER WHISPERS
http://wait-notyet-mountainriverwhispers.blogspot.com/

Sandra - Posted!
Strong Chemistry
http://strongchemistry.blogspot.com

Mary - Posted!
Work of the Poet
http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com

Jill (new blog!) - Posted!
South Bay Soliloquy
http://southbaysoliloquy.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Robin - Posted!
Robin's Woods
http://robinswoods.blogspot.com/

Teena - Posted!
It's all about me!
http://purple4mee.blogspot.com

Arti - **Welcome, New Member!** - Posted!
Ripple Effects
http://rippleeffects.wordpress.com

Mary - Posted!
Just A Hippie Gypsy
http://contrarywoman.blogspot.com/2008/10/round-robin.html

Chrissie (new blog address!) - Posted!
Chris-seas Corner
htto://www.chrisseascorner.wordpress.com

Abby **Welcome New Member** - Posted!
{Hello}
http://www.abbyfleming.blogspot.com


Oh, and a note to AOL-J Robins, and anyone else changing blog addresses: please let us know the URL of your new blogging home as soon as you can, so we can update the sidebar over the next couple of weeks. Thanks - we're here for you!

Karen

10 comments:

Teena in Toronto said...

I hate to see the end of summer :( It's 9C right now! Brrr!

I played too.

Valerie said...

great set of pics! :) Thanks for letting me play!

maryt/theteach said...

Karen, lovely sunsets and I love the "chill" in the air! Ha!

Sandra said...

yes, the shorter days, night comes much earlier. had to reset the automatic timers on lights. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I'm in southern california these days so I understand the lack of Fall signs except for pumpkins growing and store displays :0)
Your pictures are telling never-the-less. We are a little cooler today, hopefully you're feeling the cooler weather too soon...
thanks for your nice welcome. It was fun to join in. I hope to participate again. Am I suppose to put everyone's links at the end of my post?

Far Side of Fifty said...

Great Sunset photographs! I will covet your warm temperatureany day now! :)

Carly said...

Hi Karen

I couldn't get the comment form to load earlier, but I did just fine this time. Anyway, beautiful photo of the sunse, as always, well done.

Gattina said...

I think that is the place for me to live, lol ! I hate automn and winter it would be soooo nice to have summer the whole year ! Maybe not soooo hot !Beautiful pictures !

Kiva said...

What do you know? There is an end of summer in Tucson! The sunsets are great. The pictures of the annuals are telling. I'm such a lousy gardener that my garden looks like that all the time. Good job!

ChrisseasCorner said...

Georgous. I've driven thru Arizona, but someday would like to spend time there! In the winter, preferably ~ 110, not for me.