Though we can expect plenty of summer weather ahead, there was a taste of autumn at Phillips Lake this morning. A north breeze pushed hazy, relatively cool air into central Missouri, a pleasant change from the recent oppressive heat wave; I presume the haziness was produced by smoke from Canadian wildfires.
Swaths of ironweed and various sunflowers adorned the meadows while the fruit on clumps of pokeweed was beginning to ripen. Bird sightings were unremarkable though the flocking of starlings and mourning doves hinted of the coming seasonal change.
After a long, especially hot summer, many of us eagerly anticipate the more appealing conditions of fall. Sometimes, that anticipation might color our observations but a bit of reassurance, however slight, is always welcome.
