night harmony in late summer

 It's Labor Day here in the U.S. I just found out it originated as a "Monday holiday", the first Monday in September, starting in 1882. I so dislike the idea of Monday holidays, and thought they were a twentieth century thing.

We are embarking on a three or four-day spell of really hot temperatures, but it is comfortable at night. Such a blessing. 

"This week the diminishing moon is a golden watermelon cut into thirds. On the golden flesh you can the shadowy golden seed pockets, and the golden seeds, too; and the moon's burning light poured down on the ground is a golden juice.

Nights are marked by a steady humming spread on the air like a thick blanket. Only by listening acutely can you detect separate voices in the humming. There is the challenge and rebuttal of katydids in ceaseless debate; the short, quick shrillness of a cricket; the shaken vibrato of cicadas, jarfly, and other insects that hum in the night. All these blend into a chorus from which occasionally you may hear the quaver of the gray screech owl, the rare cello of a big bullfrog at the pond back of the barn, or the dramatic interception of some dark bird's sudden outcry. The whole orchestration is not loud enough to waken a sleeper, but if you happen to be already awake and listening, you are aware that a great amount of sound is harmoniously blended to make 'the quiet of the country'."

            
                                                                -  Rachel Peden,  A Farmwife's Almanac of Country Living