Beautyfall

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells."

--John Keats in "To Autumn"

Those elegant words perfectly introduce the season of bee petting. When the bees curl up all plump and dewy-furred against warm bricks and asphalt, I carefully stroke their soft backs. It is an unusually serene bonding experience! Sometimes they raise a fuzzy leg in weak acknowledgement, and then I leave them alone. When the laborious bees slow their whirling around the flowers I can tell the year is truly shifting into a tranquil yet vibrant phase. It is a rich and rustic time in which I adore the photo opportunities of everyday life.