Hi everyone!
I know I've been gone a while but I'm back and will try to blog more faithfully. The reason I was inspired to write today is that this morning I saw the first signs of the changing seasons. A few leaves at the bottom of the Burning Bushes along the driveway are turning red. Then on the way to the city I noticed a couple of maple trees with just a few yellow leaves on the edges of a branch or two. It's still hot and still officially summer but fall is easing its way into our world and our consciousness. I hate to see summer end. I love the hot nights and the sounds of locusts and frogs--it always transports me to my grandparents' backyard in the late 1950s. My grandmother loved petunias and irises and grew them in abundance in her small yard. She also tried, every year, to grow horseradish which my grandfather predictably mowed down--maybe he was being passive-aggressive. I'll never know. This year we had the beginnings of a great garden. I realized if I helped, maybe something would get done. We spent a wonderful Mother's Day weekend weeding and hauling dirt and compost and planting. Two full days of intensive labor--I was totally worn out but felt as happy as I could remember. The hard work paid off in tomatoes, asparagus, peppers (sweet and hot), a single Hansel eggplant and a wild tangle of herbs. We recently planted cabbage and spinach for the fall, with more cold-season crops to come. We're clearing the pathways through our woods and I'm certain by making it easier to get down there, I'll be inspired to write more in the coming days and months.