Seasons

Welcome, Spring Equinox

/ Pat / 8 Comments

Spring comes late in the northern tier of states. In Michigan it sometimes feels like it will never come, and then the next day we have summer heat and humidity. There have been years when it has come early and then we worry because buds start coming out and winter returns for a curtain call to damage them.

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This year spring is probably going to come late for people in the north, but that is okay because then I will be able to see it unfold when I return to Michigan. These azalea buds were taking May 3 of 2013.

I am beginning to see new blooms here in southern Florida to mark the coming of spring, but it isn’t very dramatic. There isn’t much excitement when I have been surrounded by continual green and winter flowers. I remember, oh so well, the quickening of the heart and spirit as I watched green emerge after a very long monochromatic winter. Although I haven’t had to endure this winter of misery, the coming spring will spark my memory of previous springs. How exciting to see new life emerging from an earth that appeared to have died.

Summer is Over

/ Pat / 19 Comments

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The swings are still

I stop to listen for what is no more

memories reaching back and forth

hanging on, letting go

moving into

a new season

of life.

 

To read more about the ebb and flow of life, visit the WordPress Daily Prompt:

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/daily-prompt-life/

Late Summer Garden

/ Pat / 11 Comments

Gee whiz, is it already late summer? I don’t feel it but there are signs that are saying so. I have seen a few trees with leaves turning bright red and orange – not like they are dying but like they are anticipating fall. It seems really early for lower Michigan.

As always at this time of year the Blackeyed Susans are stealing the show in the front garden. Their bright color and prolific blooming create waves of yellow so that the other lingering flowers of summer don’t have to work as hard.

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In the back, my Limelight Hydrangea is tall and strong with large blossoms. In the late evening shade they glow, and if I happen to be up during a moon-light night they look like they have been wired with electricity. The nights have been cool and I have been sleeping soundly so I have missed that sight – and because sleep is so important for my daytime well-being I won’t be setting my alarm for it.

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A part of me isn’t ready to let go of summer, but in the garden I have begun to feel like fall. I recognize my late-summer-gardening attitude kicking in. I don’t dead-head as much and I am not focused on new blooms about to unfold. Late summer seems to allow me to be more relaxed and I like that. Hubby and I finished up the spring weeding and got the last of the mulch spread this past week. Isn’t it funny how our aging bodies require that we not be as hung up on seasonal schedules. Being retired also helps because we know we have tomorrow if we are too tired or achy to complete it today. And if it doesn’t get done, well that will be okay too. So far the seasons have happened without my help.

Farmers Market Morning

/ Pat / 10 Comments

 

I love September and this September morning I decided to go to the farmers’ market downtown. I feel September. There is a calm that I feel – maybe I sense that the trees are doing less work as they stop photosynthesis. They look tired, but in a good way, like the tired after a good day’s work. If I had young kids they would be back in school. There is a quietness of September, a settling down.

This morning was cool, still below 70, and the sky was very blue (low humidity), and the sun was very warm. Perfect. I stopped to pick up my daughter and couldn’t resist taking some snaps of her zinnias. This is the first year she planted them and only the pinks came up. I like the pinks best!

Zinnia in Sharon’s Garden

The next one posed in front of some ornamental grass that is going to seed. Nice interest without being too busy.

On to the farmers’ market. This is the first time this year that I walked around just for the joy of seeing what is there. Before I would just pop in for blueberries or peaches from the Blueberry Farm people, Ken & Janet. Their peaches are finished but I bought some wonderful pears and apples.

Blueberry Farm – Ken & Janet

I always buy from them because they handle their fruit with such gentleness – Janet hardly touches the peaches as she picks them up. I once received a lecture when I told her she could put two fruits in the same bag. Oops.

I wonder way they call this eggplant. They don’t look anything like an egg and they aren’t layed.

Eggplant

Swiss Chard & Kale

Sunflowers

As I was uploading photos for this post I realized I didn’t buy anything that I took a photo of except the apples and pears. But we are having sweetcorn and tomatoes with our supper, I am going to make some zucchini bread, and I just had a piece of toast with cone honey. Yummy. Did I say I love September?

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