We`re approaching the autumnal equinox, a period of great natural change. The equinox this year is Saturday, September 22. That is when the sunlight is twelve hours of daylight and the evening and night is twelve hours of sunlessness. This day and one day in March are when the greatest rates of change occur. The equinox in September marks the beginning of the Fall season, the one in March, heralds the beginning of Spring. It is said that an egg will stand on it`s end on the equinox. Having never witnessed that, I find it hard to believe.
This year, September 22, the Moon is in the first quarter. It should be visible right after the sunset. It will be surrounded by several planets in our solar system. Out In the wilds, you should see a plethora of daisies peaking with the season. The most prevalent is the Coreopsis Tickseed, Florida`s official state wildflower. It grows to about a foot or so in height, covering the roadsides and the fields nearly everywhere. They are mostly seen in open areas not heavily shaded.
Another flower grows somewhere near the gulf beaches and the marshes. This one is most often commonly known as the Elena daisy. It was not often seen around here until Hurricane Elena wreaked havoc on the Cedar Keys twisting and turning for days just off shore of Crystal River, and the Cedar Keys. Dock Street was destroyed by this storm as were other areas on the water. These Elena daisies grow tall and prolific along the water, but you don`t see them past about a mile on shore. They exist along Florida`s coast and those in west Africa. Some say they were carried here from Africa by the prevailing winds of storms and hurricanes. They are known by gardeners as the beach sunflower. In this peaking period, you also see leaves changing colors. On the hardwood trees. The silver-barked maples` leaves are now red. The sycamores are turning orange and mostly brown. The cypress leaves, needles, are tanning. The holly bushes are just beginning to grow berries.
Fall grasses are flowering and going to seed. Goldenrods are peaking, as are ragweeds. The human allergies assaulted with these grasses are swelling the eyes and facial skin and making breathing difficult.
White-tailed deer are still in their red coats though on the cusp of browning and graying. And those who have recently grown antlers have pretty well stripped the antlers of their velvet, that skin that carries the growth tissue to the antlers.
And the redfish and sea trout are moving about more rigorously into the shallows as the tidal waters begin to cool.
The rate of change of air temperature is causing it to drop faster so the evenings and nights are cooler than before. The autumnal equinox is underway. Summer is changing to Fall. Age-old rhythms rise and fall, resuming their familiar patterns... You can Contact Trouble by email at: tnckgebe@yahoo.com | 
