The berry season is near the end, the long period of heat and lack of rain was not helpful. The drone of cicada, katydids and crickets and the blooming of the goldenrod always signify, to me, the end of summer. The trees are apt to drop a few leaves in the wind, the air faintly smells of honey and one is tempted to try a bite from a the apples and pears that are getting big but still quite unripe. If it were a wetter summer there would have been berries to the end of September, but not this year. They started earlier and ended earlier, is is it a sign of the times?