Changing Seasons: Goodbye to Summer

Last Day of Summer Walk

When the summer grass turns from green to gold
And black-eyed Susans line the road
Where the lizard suns on a dusty rock
I will take my last-day-of-summer walk.

When the meadowlark hides in the dry brown weeds
And the hot wind scatters the wildflower seeds
As the grasshopper leaps and I laugh at the shock,
I will take my last-day-of-summer walk.

So join me at the river’s bend.
I’m so glad you’ve been my summer friend.
Together we’ll watch the season end
As we take our last-day-of -summer walk.

oOo

This is one of my favorite poems from Year-Round Read-Aloud, Read-Along Rhymes: Celebrating Holidays and Seasons, written remembering my childhood summers in Central Oregon.

Just a few days ago, my husband and I drove out to Massacre Rocks State Park along the Snake River in South East Idaho.  As we walked, we snapped pictures of rocks and lizards and the river, in its late summer cycle.

The grasshoppers jumped, just as I remembered.  Dragonflies, and Monarch butterflies flew among the late wild flowers.  The wind blew  seeds from the opening milkweed pods.  It was a magical day, and I cried as I thanked my husband for being my summer friend.