Prelude to Fall
The days are getting shorter. Have you noticed? Starlings gather and fret. And while it is still hot, we’ll see the first polar cell slide down this way in a week or two. It won’t be long, so enjoy growing things, insect noises at night and the freedom of shorts and sandals a bit longer. Another turn of the wheel is at hand.
Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.
I am SO ready for fall.