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Opinion |
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Eye on Nature
MHCC biology instructor
On the eve of a new quarter, it pays to pause a moment to soak in the gentleness of the soft days of our fading summer. September breezes whisper through trees just starting to change and bring to our awareness the faint perfume of autumn.
Early rains like Wednesday’s serve as a salve for a land parched from months of summer drought — their gentle drops collecting on hard dirt surfaces briefly before moving between gaps in soil particles to the waiting cells of sleeping roots.
The return of water activates these dormant plants, just as the return of students activates our campus and stirs us all into activity. But unlike the plants whose energy source is steadily decreasing with each turn of the planet, we can look to the increasing energy of discovery to power us through the fall.
Indeed, very soon our campus will be bustling, our classes full, our community alive with learning, and we have much still to do for their return.
But for now, on this quiet Friday, we still can pause and take in a soft scent, be warmed by a gentle sun, and appreciate the transition from summer to autumn. Welcome back!
Wally Shriner has been an MHCC instructor since 1999 and writes a column each month on our connection to nature.
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