Last weekend was just beautiful: low humidity, blue skies, and cool temperatures. The best part (besides having Monday off) was that there were no major chores to do around the garden. It gave me time to look around the garden and appreciate all the labor that went into my little slice of yard. The leaves on the trees are all still green, but a yellow glow is starting to emerge and that can only mean only one thing: we are on the verge of fall.

Another autumnal tip off was the flowering of the garlic chives, which traditionally happens around labor day. These are purely decorative flowers as opposed to spring chives (which you can eat and have a lovely purple flower.) What amazed me about this years blooming cycle was the frenzy of honey bees. There must have been close to 100 bees buzzing from bloom to bloom, collecting pollen. There has been so much talk this year about the plight of honey bees and how they are vanishing. If you have a few minutes, check out this article that ran in last month's Gourmet. The writer talks about his dying grandfather's bee hives and what he has to do for the sake of the bees. Powerful stuff.

But back to the coming fall: please tell me if you've noticed the days getting shorter and fall creeping up on you. How does it make you feel? Do you have any special ways you embrace the change in season?