I CAN HEAR THEM. The whisperers.
They rustle through the cornfields, fingertips brushing brittle leaves.
They swish through the tall prairie grasses, hips not just swaying, but sashaying, in the bending breeze.
Their voices drone like a billion buzzing busy bees.
In the woods, I strain to hear them as my flip flops crunch leaves strewn upon the path. I know they are there, hiding among the trees.
When two bikers pedal past me, the whisperers think I cannot hear them whispering. But I can.
At 4:28 in the morning, when the owl’s hoot awakens me from sleep, I cannot hear the whisperers. But I feel their chilling presence slide through the open bedroom window, brushing my bare shoulders with icy fingers.
They cloak themselves in glorious golden robes…
hide among the grasses…
tempt me with wine.
Their distractions and disguises don’t fool me. I hear them whispering of winter in these early days of autumn.
FYI: All of these photos, except the vineyard and the cornfield, were taken at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault on Monday, September 3. The other two were shot a day earlier east of Waterville.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Fantastic post – again, thank you so much for this daily gift of life’s best.
You are welcome, Mark. I was feeling a bit poetic and reflective when I wrote this yesterday afternoon and polished it up this morning. Enjoy this absolutely beautiful day.
This is such a beautiful post. It makes me homesick for Minnesota and fall and winter. It’s amazing how much I miss these things now that I live in the south. It’s like every fiber of my being aches for Minnesota in the fall.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, which is such a gift to me on this beautiful September morning here in Minnesota. If I eased the ache for you in missing your home state, then I am pleased to have done so. Fall is, by far, my favorite season, except for the whispers of winter.
Love your blog….a former Minnesotan
Thank you, Dorothy. Welcome back to Minnesota via Minnesota Prairie Roots.
Beautiful. Fall is so fleeting, made so by the promise that the cold, barren winter will soon follow. Now is the time when we get so busy preparing ourselves and all around us for the winter ahead that we almost forget to take the time and enjoy the beauty and textures of the present season. I love it too. But spring is my favorite when everything comes to life again. I often wonder if it makes a difference what season a person is born in as to which is your favorite season? I think the winter was given to us to rest, the same as it was for the fields and forests and the beauty of the fall helps ease us into the starkness of winter. I will listen more closely this fall to the whispers.
I think you are absolutely right on all counts. And just, fyi, I was born in September and fall is my absolute favorite season.
I am an LOVER of winter (and Fall). Loved your post, it made me smile knowing all the prelim that is beginning as fall approaches and winter moves close behind. I slept like a baby last night with the window open and the cool north wind blowing over me, YUM!
I agree. This is great sleeping weather.
I really love Autumn. In WA I loved Spring – which stilll do – but here Spring is still cold, whereas Fall can remain quite warm for awhile, still. BUT…the lingering knowledge of winter coming…puts a bit of a damper on my love for fall!
That is the only thing I don’t like about fall either–knowing that winter follows.