Summer in My Heart

We've been blessed with a string of absolutely gorgeous, blue-sky September days: cool in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon.

My husband returned late Tuesday afternoon from an overnight backpack trip to the Quehanna Wild Area. He spent a somewhat less than restful night due to the bugling of the elk (yep, it's mating season!) and the answering yip-yaps of coyotes. And he awoke the morning of September 11 to the first frost! Wow! Summer must be nearing its end.

Several of our local state park swimming areas will close at the end of this coming weekend. So we seized the day (or at least the very late afternoon into evening) on Wednesday, and went swimming at Whipple Dam after I got home from work.

We were among just a very few people there. Perhaps the water is already too cool for many, but we found it wonderful and refreshing - warmish near the top, a bit chillier down a foot or two or three. We didn't lollygag at all, just jumped right in once we got there, trying to make the most of the lingering late-afternoon sunspot on the swimming area.

I swam and swam, and then I stopped and stood in the shallows, turning to smile up into the golden September sun, relishing its warmth on my wet skin . . . just trying to capture and hold these moments in my mind, in my heart, in my soul.

After we were done swimming, we raced back to the car - which was parked near a picnic area on the other side of the lake - so I could grab my camera and get some shots before the daylight left.

This is typically one of my favorite spots for photographing dragonflies, but I saw only a handful on this day - apparently just the few who are left who didn't get the memo about how the days of the dragonfly may be passing. And the pretty little snake I saw last time I was there was nowhere to be found.

I walked along the shoreline, admiring the blue water, searching for dragonflies anyway, even though I knew there were just a few. I looked back across the lake and saw how the late afternoon sun bathed the swimming area in light, turned it all golden-green, with the corresponding reflection in the water.

I love fall and it may be my favorite season; the cooler mornings make my blood tingle and send me into a fit of wanderlust I can barely contain.

But, summer, my sweet, I will always love you and never let you go. The seasons may be changing in the air around me, but I will always carry summer with me in my heart.