Climax of the Year

     September 21 is regarded as the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere, but to me it is the middle of that season, and the climax of the year.  All of nature all year has grown toward and built up to this time of fulfillment, this time of maturity and bounty.  And in the midst of that abundance, all of nature prepares for the hardships and scarcities of the coming winter.  Indeed, the climax of life's development happens just before the dormancy of winter, the start of another biological year. 
     During September, many kinds of plants bear fruits that had been maturing through the warmer months.  Tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, gourds, apples, peaches and other crops are harvested.  A variety of wild berries come to maturity at this time, including on elderberries, deadly nightshades, pokeweeds, dogwoods, tear-thumbs, multiflora roses, American hollies and other kinds of vegetation.  Most of those berries are eaten by berry-eating birds, mice, squirrels, and other critters through winter.  Some species of oak trees drop acorns now, and hickory nuts fall from their trees.  Black bears, white-tailed deer, eastern chipmunks, a small variety of squirrels, wild turkeys and blue jays either eat a lot of acorns and get fat for the winter or store many of them for winter consumption.  Weed and grass seeds are mature, abundant and released at this time.  They are eaten by mice, sparrows and finches.  And some of the pods of common milkweeds open now, releasing their many brown seeds, each one with a fluffy, white parachute that carries it away on the wind. 
     The climax of the year is accompanied by the beauty of flowers on tall plants that grew all summer and the start of colored leaves, making September the single most pretty time of the year as well.  The yellow blooms of evening primroses, goldenrods and Jerusalem artichokes and the whites and lavenders of asters in field edges, woodland edges,  hedgerows and along country roads, the yellow flowers of bur-marigolds and sneezeweeds along waterways in meadows, and the orange of spotted jewelweeds and pink of smartweeds in moist places are colorful in fall.  And those blossoms are visited by bees, butterflies and other kinds of insects that ingest their nectar and pollinate them, while adding their intrigues to the beauties of the blooms. 
     But as those wild flowers die and fade away, colored leaves become ever more numerous in the trees' preparation for winter.  Deciduous trees let their leaves die and shed them because they won't be making sugar in the cold of winter.  Some of the earliest autumn leaves include those on black gums, flowering dogwoods, staghorn sumacs, black walnuts, red maples, poison ivy, Virginia creeper and pokeweed.      
     By September, most wildlife is done rearing offspring.  Now is the time for creatures to rest, build up reserves and prepare for winter, including storing food, putting on fat or migrating. 
     During this most beautiful and bountiful time of the year, its climax, there is also a feeling of sadness as the amount of daylight each succeeding day gets shorter and average temperatures get cooler.  We know winter is coming, and some of us don't care for that frigid season.  Brightly colored fall foliage is not only breath-taking, but also reminds us that winter is coming, and quickly.  But we still enjoy the beauty in those dead and dying leaves, in the trees and on the ground. 
     Get out during September to experience nature's progression toward its climax, which occurs  around the autumn equinox.  And life's many preparations for winter will also be experienced.  No time of year is as bountiful, beautiful or exciting as late September.