Before the Fall

One of the last days of Summer yesterday and it was a good'n. Absolute and pure blue sky, upper 60s, little or no breeze. Two years ago, on a Saturday at this time of year, I would have been off to Central NY or NJ or DE or PA watching my son, like so:

or like so:
















As fun as that was it's now really nice to have a Fall weekend to just hang at home. The Fall vibe is already present, not just in the cold night air but in the organic morphings that always mark the season's change. But, there are a number of plants and flowers that are behaving like it's mid July. Like these flowers in my back yard, which are in peak bloom right now (I have no idea what they are):

And these, also unknown to me, which are long and lanky but gorgeous (they also are in the front where almost no sun shines):

The coneflowers are also looking pretty happy:

And these wildflowers (er, weeds) at the back edge along the woods are exploding:

The geraniums, which have been blooming madly this year, show no signs of letting up:

Nor do the impatiens, which in spite of their seeming delicate nature are pretty hardy, and wildly colorful (also in the shady front):

And these haven't even opened yet. They're always the last thing to bloom at my house (whatever they are):

But most things are starting the downhill slide, in one form of degradation or another. The hastas are giving up quickly:

The susans are fighting off the shorter days and cooler nights, but some blooms are spent:

The phlox is also undecided, even within one bloom cluster:

We took a walk over by the zoo and went across the river. Even a middling cell phone picture shows the greens yielding to yellows:

There is a lot of this:

And some of this:

And pretty soon this:

Will become this:

So, another gorgeous day is in the books. And It was embellished by a couple of cherubic encounters: