One reason I love this time of year

In this hemisphere it is late spring, though where I live in Mississippi it tends to turn into summer heat and bloom well over a month ago. But what I especially love about this time of year is the lengthening of the day. There is still daylight up until nearly 8 o'clock in the evening and I really enjoy that. When I used to work at a job it gave people like me time to enjoy the garden and the outdoors. But even without having a job I still really appreciate the extra sunlight. When I am in the mood to photograph I like late afternoon lighting conditions, and so with long days I can get great photographs during hours of opportunity. When I run a quick errand to the store it's great to go while the sun is still up, not just for the light, but the late afternoon and sunset mood is extended for three hours during this time of year. When I was a child growing up in the country edge of a small village, we converted our garage into a screened porch and sat out there until the sun set. It's a time of year when it is wonderful to have more outdoors oriented hours in the day rather than being stuck inside. It's also the time of year when the birds are quieter, having sorted out their mating and nesting, but the insects and frogs start with their evening buzz. When I lived in the northern part of this country I used to look forward to the fireflies that graced my front yard, flashing orange, gold and green lights in their signals to each other. I'd watch them and fool around with them while my dogs were roaming their front yard doing their business. I liked to catch a firefly between my cupped palms so it would fly around inside my hands, and my fingers would glow when it flashed its lights. I like all the times of the day, the quiet of pre-dawn, the dawn and the singing of the birds, the strength of morning, the decisions at lunchtime (!), the productivity of the afternoon, even enjoying the intensity of the heat. But there is something so graceful about the late afternoon into evening that just is so beautiful and like a long graceful closure to a symphony. The wind shifts, the lighting changes, birds and animals become active again before nature's "bedtime," while those of the night slowly become active and overlap, like seeing the first firefly of the evening. Birds would barely be finished with their day while the bats would come out and fly to scoop up mosquitoes and other insects. Here by the bayou I'd hear the harsh squawk of one of the herons just before it gets dark. This time of year it's as though everyone gets extra hours each day of the full spectrum of nature and its day.