Sunday, July 24, 2016

The Saddest Day of Summer

I've used my seven years of blogging to track when I hear the first crickets chirping each year.

The chirp of the crickets is the first sign of fall coming, and it always makes me a little sad.  I like to think summer is endless.  What a fantasy (here in upstate New York.)

This year, I heard crickets, for the first time, on July 18.  The earliest ever, although I must add that I only heard them in one location.  But this morning, I opened my door to get the paper and heard the chirps. "C-Day" is official.

Here are some cricket milestones of the past:

July 29, 2009
July 30, 2011 
then, there were two dates in 2012, perhaps due to an early spring
May 21, 2012
July 25, 2012
August 3, 2014
July 28, 2015 

Actually, something similar happened in July of 2010, but they were here for good by July 22.  Incidentally, that's one reason why I like to blog - the blog becomes a kind of garden journal.  I'm no good at diaries or journals, but blogging is something I do keep up with.  At least for now.

In April of this year, I participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme was (based on a soap opera theme)  "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of our Lives".  Crickets don't tend to have a long life span - different species may live anywhere from three months to a year, or so I've read.

The day lilies I love don't live long, either.  Each bloom only lasts a single day, teaching us not to live in the past or the future.  Live only in the present, and look at the beauty around you each day.  And speaking of which, sometime this week, I will post even more lily pictures.

Until then, enjoy the chirp of the cricket, if they are chirping where you live.

15 comments:

  1. My blog is also like a journal to keep track of things... now I will be tracking my garden in my blog too :) Crickets remind me that I haven't seen a firefly in years!!

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    1. I was lead into blog/gardening journaling by a blogger with a monthly meme - on the 15th of the month we post what is happening. I've been doing that since 2011. And, come to think of it, I haven't seen a firefly in a while, either.

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  2. I never knew this Alana - how interesting. I'll have to keep my ears open. Thanks!

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  3. I love to visit my friends in Maine. She has an extensive day lily garden. They're magnificent. I love to help her deadhead them. It's almost like an addiction. Brenda

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    1. I think I have become addicted to lilies, too. It's a wonderful addiction.

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  4. That's wonderful....your proximity with nature......the liliies you tend, the crickets you hear.....Most of the people enjoy nature only in 'selfies'....:P

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    1. Even in the biggest cities (I grew up in New York City) you can find nature, but in some cities, it is awfully hard.

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  5. So, they usually start chirping around my birthday. Interesting. I don't hear them around here, but the dragonflies seem to be out in force.

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    1. Since I've only been to California once (San Diego, in July)I don't know about the insect life. I do remember how beautiful the July weather was, though.

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  6. I seem not to hear Cricket like I did when I was younger.
    Coffee is on

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  7. I am kind of afraid of crickets.. childhood fear :P

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    1. Fortunately, not a fear I've ever had. To me, they are fascinating.

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  8. How wonderful a lesson nature gives us in different forms like the day lily. For endless summer, you can think about moving to South India :D

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