Twelve Moons of the Year. August 03.

Significant sentences from The Twelve Moons of the Year by Hal Borland, a chronology of the New England seasons. August 03.

"One thing about the zinnia: it doesn't need pampering. Give it a rootbed, sunlight and a start, and it will make its own way. Colors are strong, old-fashioned colors with little subtlety. Generosity is magnificent; cut one bloom and two will take its place. Liken it to the sunflower. There's kinship, too, with the big daisies and, in lesser degree, with the asters. As native to the continent as the pumpkin." p. 231.

"It always seems to catch us by surprise, that day when we know the summer is not endless, that autumn is just over the hill or up the valley." p. 232.

"But it is the light, not the temperature, that marks the change from summer to fall...the clear blue sky, the sharp shadows, the way they fall." p. 232.

"August: not another bird makes a sound until a crow caws in the distance." p. 232.

"But concentrate on the apple itself, which is the roundness of the earth, the red and gold of the sunrise and the summary of the fruitful season's sweet ripeness." p. 233.

"The apple is juicy crispness to the tooth and tongue." p. 233.

"The swallows gave up on the weather several weeks ago, held their conference on rural telephone lines and headed south." p. 234.

"The monarch butterflies come with the goldenrod and the asters, special spangles for late-summer days, and they stay until the maples have begun to turn to gold and crimson." p. 236.