Author: Alyce Faye Bragg

September peeps cautiously around the corner as if debating whether to allow autumn to enter our hills, or permit summer

Summer released her hot grip on the hills this past week as fall-like weather spread cooler fingers through our days.

Summer is still hanging around the hills, but the school term starts this week anyway. Blending in with the yellow

Stifling summer heat continues to smother our hills while each foray outside is like stepping into a sauna. However, the

I SAW GOD WASH THE WORLDby William L. StidgerI saw God wash the world last nightWith His sweet showers on

Hot summer days sizzle along in typical July fashion, with droning honeybees visiting the flowerbeds and carrying their nectar back

Hot July days simmer across our hills bringing orange day lilies, deeper orange butterfly weed (pleurisy weed,) vacations, and lightning

Another serene May day sits lightly on our hills. After weeks of rainy weather, we are doubly thankful for the

The wind is sighing through the treetops, hopefully bidding the last vestige of cold rain good-bye. It has been a

All about us, the earth is waking up from the long sleep of winter. The maple trees are blooming; their

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUDI wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o’er vales and hills,When all at

LAY MY HEAD BENEATH THE ROSE Darling, press me to your bosom, As you did in days of yore, Press

Snow, snow and more snow.  Snow on top of snow on top of snow. It is still snowing.  It is

The sun is just rising on the morning of another day, the first day of the New Year. What can

Our hills have been shivering in the onslaught of winter weather, with continued snow and frigid temperatures that came suddenly

November days grow browner, mornings are crisper, and Thanksgiving looms very near. There is something about Thanksgiving that makes it

The mellow air of autumn surrounds our hills and enfolds us in a warm and tender embrace. This has been

October days slide by smoothly, one golden day after another, as cooler weather moves in slowly. The nights are becoming

Yellow leaves are falling in the slow-moving creek while yellow-eyed wild asters peer over the bank as if watching them

The Full Harvest Moon shines in golden splendor as the first day of autumn fades away into the night shadows.

A lone crow calls from the hillside above the camp, the only loud sound on this drowsy day.  The low

When purple ironweed lines the roadsides, and the underbrush begins to turn yellow, it is time for the school term

A lone cricket chirps outside the kitchen door, a song of longing and sadness and foreboding. He knows his days

The dusty-pink blossoms of the Joe-Pye weed droop over the road banks and warn us of summer’s passing—very, very soon.

Yellow and black swallowtail butterflies hover above the Rose of Sharon bush which is so loaded with double blossoms that

Dog days came into our hills hot and dry, with searing heat and crops begging for rain. It is a

Summer has exploded in our hills like a Fourth of July firecracker, with searing heat and high humidity. The widespread