As the hours of daylight slowly lessen and the heat of sun directly overhead shifts to a dim lower angle, I acknowledge the evolving seasons as summer evolves into fall. As a schoolkid on summer vacation, time was my companion and I used it to live in those moments.

My summer memories on Carlisle were made outdoors where I had my own patch of dirt in the back corner of the backyard. The patch was once in bad shape, full of rocky lumps and hard clay. I tried my best to soften the dirt to rich soil but the earth stood her ground and remained hard. I planted a seed mixture of wild flowers anyway. I reveled in the ease of sprinkling the salt and pepper colored magic dust from the white envelope onto the lumpy ground and discovering green tips sprouting so quickly. The dust turned to green dots which quickly formed leaves bursting through the earth. All grew to be different colors with a variety of blooms, including one tall sunflower that stood strong. It was the last flower to tower in the bed when the others had reached their end, shriveled and flopped on their sides. A pair of willow trees stood soft in the opposite corner with flowing limp branches. An all-encompassing oak tree in the middle of the yard reached out in many directions and never bent in the wind. I sunbathed on the patio during the sunny, hot days of summer basking in the sun, skin slicked with baby oil, listening to the portable radio playing “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Croft with no desire to be in any other place. My bedroom extended to the backyard and expanded into a bright world which filled my senses. I saw a colored spectrum, heard leaves rustling as a gentle breeze roused their stillness, and chirping conversations of robins and sparrows while witnessing the unfolding of delicate rose petals in Mom’s rose garden. I acknowledged the seasons through that summer as rich with their own characteristics and ever evolving through the year.