I write this post from a cafe on a corner in on a early summer day Washington DC (and I am finishing it in a hotel room in Minneapolis). The temperature will reach 90 today, the mercies climbing closer to the temperatures that are no doubt ready to flare before the Fourth of July recess (even as I sit and eat my breakfast, there’s a pretty heated discussion about non-profits to my left).

That makes these recently delivered film scans so interesting to look at. The calm coolness of spring  is a long ways away from where I am today (even though it sounds like Grand Rapids has had a rainy, cool, Spring Part Deux the last couple of days…although it seems quite pleasant today, as well as last night when my Amtrak train rolled into town, complete with fireworks).

Fall is by far my favorite season, followed closely by spring.  Even though it can have a has time making its arrival (note the beautiful blooms under a blanket of snow), it is still a pleasant, sweet time of the year, filled with blossoms and baby birds and just the kinder, gentler things of life.

Unfortunately for us, it is a mere moment of the year, come and gone before we know it (as indicated by the lovely little yellow lady slippers, which were on their way out by the time I made my way into the woods). But aren’t the best things in life short-lived? Isn’t that what keeps them extraordinary instead of ordinary? I sure like to think so.

Thankfully, however, we have photos to serve as a taste of that time until we make our turn all the way around the sun, through summer and fall snd winter when spring returns again.

Until then, here are 36 moments to savor…