In the morning the grass is heavy with dew and spread with a patchwork quilt of spider's webs. Walking down the garden to see if there are any butterflies still on the buddleia is a lesson in how hard spiders work overnight, as their strong invisible webs which are spread between the bushes each side of my route stick to my arms and legs as I pass, leaving me shaking my arms in an impression of a giant trapped fly trying to shake off the sticky line. The air is cold but the sunlight is bright and the sky is blue with the odd fluffy cloud and it promises to be a fine day.
By lunchtime the dew has dried and the air is warm enough for December and June to enjoy leaping in and out of the splash pool at a local park before settling down on the blanket with us to enjoy a picnic lunch. Later, we wander along the seafront in Worthing discovering new places for the girls to play and a lovely little seafront cafe serving the best hot chocolate, gluten free cakes and with great sea views to gaze at.
The light travelling through the late afternoon air has not yet reached that syrupy tone of sepia tint that tells you that Autumn is seeping into Summer, however the hawthorn bushes are already heavy with fruit as are fruit trees and the fields are full of hay bales and pheasants that have escaped the guns of men in tweed in pursuit of sport.
The night is drawing in a little earlier each day and soon the night skies will be brilliant with all sorts of astronomical sights viewable through a much clearer atmosphere than that which is present during Summer months. This will enable my husband and I to take December and June out to explore our Solar System and the Milky Way at a much more reasonable hour than has been possible recently. We have a small telescope and binoculars and have a list of planets, stars and objects that we hope to spot and have found the presentations at the South Downs Planetarium to be most useful in helping us to learn more about the sky at night.
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