autumn

(One of two entries for this date)
Autumn
It is such a lovely and sad time of the year. That fevered springtime impatience to get into the garden is gone, the flushes of new green growth have given way to tired and sagging plants that want to sleep or die, leaving seeds or roots in the ground for next season. The weeks or months of picking and processing are over- we have a closet full of cases of home-canned foods, salsa, tomatoes, peaches, jams, pickles, and dried foods, mostly fruits. Some fall planting awaits, but it is much more quiet and less hectic than the spring, more contemplative and fits the time of year where the nights are getting longer, the days shorter. Even the nighttime and morning constellations of stars are shifting, Orion the Hunter hangs just above my driveway now in the early morning darkness…the Harvest Moon and the Hunters Moon are approaching…and the ground is dewy in the morning and the air damp and cool. The crickets are still chirping to let you knew it is still barely, just barely summer, but their rhythm has changed, languorous and slow, as if they know winter is coming. And the hummingbirds must leave very soon, on their journey to far-flung places in South America. Then add into the mix the school buses coming down the street, the ever taller and more mature kids in their backpacks and new sneakers walking toward their stops, the acorns are falling, the dry and dusty leaves on the trees are just starting to turn color. That’s fall…and it reminds me so strongly of all the cycles we live in and through and with…

Happy gardening!