“The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, monotonous song. ‘Summer is over and gone,’ they sang. ‘Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying.’
The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year --the days when summer is changing into fall --the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.
Everybody heard the song of the crickets. Avery and Fern Arable heard it as they walked the dusty road. They knew that school would soon begin again. The young geese heard it and knew that they would never be little goslings again. Charlotte heard it and knew that she hadn't much time left. Mrs. Zuckerman, at work in the kitchen, heard the crickets, and a sadness came over her, too. ‘Another summer gone,’ she sighed. Lurvy, at work building a crate for Wilbur, heard the song and knew it was time to dig potatoes.
‘Summer is over and gone,’ repeated the crickets. ‘How many nights till frost?’ sang the crickets. ‘Good-bye, summer, good-bye, good-bye!’
The sheep heard the crickets, and they felt so uneasy they broke a hole in the pasture fence and wandered up into the field across the road. The gander discovered the hole and led his family through, and they walked to the orchard and ate the apples that were lying on the ground. A little maple tree in the swamp heard the cricket song and turned bright red with anxiety.”
-- E. B. White, XV. The Crickets, Charlotte’s Web
Kathy picked this passage to read for us at the Book Club in FUMC yesterday morning. She thought it combined imagination and reality perfectly. It is also one of my favorite passages of Charlotte’s Web, especially the last sentence. The way this passage describes summer’s ending is like a song, a poem.
Some people think cricket song is noisy. Maybe they just don’t know that it is a kind reminder, ”Fall is coming!” Summer in Texas is extremely hot. I can hardly wait to hear cricket song!
Viola, 2016/08/02 evening at Austin
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