August’s Long Shadows and Summer’s Last Hurrah

GEORGIA FOLK AND FARM LIFE - There’s something about late August in Georgia that feels both hurried and slow at the same time. The cicadas are still hollering in the trees, the tomatoes are hanging on the vine with just enough stubbornness to make you wonder if they’ll ripen before the squirrels get ‘em, and the school buses have started rolling again.

It’s that time of year when the days are still hot enough to make you thankful for a porch fan, but the evenings whisper that fall isn’t too far off. You’ll catch yourself reaching for that extra cup of coffee in the morning, not because you need it—but because it feels just a little cooler and a little cozier as the sun comes up later and later.

Folks around here know August is tricky. You’re still swatting mosquitoes, but at the same time you’re putting away the canning jars and sharpening mower blades one more time before the grass finally gives up. Cotton fields are filling in, soybeans are standing tall, and the pumpkins are starting their quiet work on the ground.

We call this the “in-between time.” Not quite summer, not quite fall. It’s the season when watermelons get sold out of pickup trucks on the side of the road, and a jar of muscadine jelly shows up on your porch like a little gift from heaven. It’s also the time for gathering—church homecomings, back-to-school suppers, neighbors swapping stories at the feed store, and this year, our very own Georgia Folk and Farm Life Gathering & Story Revival.

So, here’s to August in Georgia—the long shadows on the red clay roads, the smell of fresh-cut hay, and the promise that cooler days are coming. ~Matt Jolley