Beyond the Autumnal Equinox

We are two days beyond the autumnal equinox.   Fall colors—red, yellow, and orange---are now advancing on our trees from the north.  I once read where winter approaches us from the north by something like seventeen miles each day.

Or, perhaps, my mind invented this.

Either way, the predawn has become quiet.  The songbirds have stopped squabbling.  Some have packed up and moved on.  Starlings have swept together and now engage in great murmurations above the valley floor.

That girl heard an elk bugling from across the lake a few days ago.

This morning, I stood out front in cool air and watched as a cloudfront advanced against both moon and stars above the prairie.

Everything around me is moving on.

Last night, I had another dream about my grandfather.  Those are my favorite dreams.  In more than one way, I am advancing toward him.

-- Mitchell Hegman