August gold I saw today #phenology

On the way home from this morning's dental appointment, and mid-day while walking dogs, this insight occurred to me: August is, literally, golden moments in time.

Distant clusters of goldenrod

Photo by J. Harrington

Roadsides brightened by bird's-foot trefoil

Photo by J. Harrington

Scattered stalks of common evening primrose(?)

Photo by J. Harrington

Fields of black-eyed susans

Photo by J. Harrington

 Goldfinch males

Photo by J. Harrington

Unfortunately, last night our cloud cover kept it from being like:

August 12 in the Nebraska Sand Hills Watching the Perseids Meteor Shower

By Twyla Hansen

In the middle of rolling grasslands, away from lights,

a moonless night untethers its wild polka-dots,

the formations we can name competing for attention

in a twinkling and crowded sky-bowl.

Out from the corners, our eyes detect a maverick meteor,

a transient streak, and lying back toward midnight

on the heft of our car hood, all conversation blunted,

we were at once unnerved and somehow restored.

Out here, a furrow of spring-fed river threads

through ranches in the tens of thousands of acres.

Like cattle, we are powerless, by instinct can see

why early people trembled and deliberated the heavens.

Off in the distance those cattle make themselves known,

a bird song moves singular across the horizon.

Not yet 2:00, and bits of comet dust, the Perseids,

startle and skim the atmosphere like skipping stones.

In the leaden dark, we are utterly alone. As I rub the ridges

on the back of your hand, our love for all things warm

and pulsing crescendos toward dawn: this timeless awe,

your breath floating with mine upward into the stars.

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