Summer, it's hard to say goodbye sometimes.

I was out walking my dogs early this morning and came upon a fence with some very fresh, beautiful honeysuckle in bloom.

Today is September 27 in Atlanta, GA, and the honeysuckle blossoms should be very sparse, scraggly or gone for the year. So it was a real joy to find a hedge of honeysuckle with bumblebees buzzing all around it.

And the smell! I associate the smell of honeysuckle with early summer, it's my own personal signal that it's time to start making honeysuckle jelly, the first jelly of the season after my long winter break. It was strange to see and smell on a cool, damp and cloudy morning, very out of place.

But what a delight to have happened upon it as we head into shorter and shorter days! I look forward to the cold this winter after our brutal summer but will be happy to see the honeysuckle again once it appears.