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| The view from Burwell's Deck |
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| The Maine Coast from Acadia National Park |
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| Champ and I with our friends and hosts Chuck and Julie |
Today was my day to mourn the passing of yet another summer season. I have done it each year as long as I can remember. It is the day I clean out the garden. For 5 summers, it has involved taking down the container garden on my pad at Saylorville Lake. This year it is once again a vegetable garden in the ground, here at our son’s place where we have made a summer home. In past years my late summer feelings have been a blend of relief that the extreme heat and humidity have passed, joy of the upcoming fall season and the warm earthy colors that go along with it and the dread of the winter coming. These days that ladder of those emotions is the dread of leaving the kids for the winter.
The weather was perfect. 70 degrees and cloudy. Jeans and a t-shirt allowed the hard work of cleaning out plants and taking down fencing to whiz by without really breaking a sweat. It was downright pleasant outside today for physical work. I filled a 5-gallon bucket with the last of the tomatoes, peppers and zucchini musing about who I would give them to and thought about the upcoming winter. My mind was buzzing with the familiar excitement of going to a warm climate and the anticipation of a job we have had lined up for a couple of years on the Keys. Both thoughts were interwoven with the sadness of missing winter birthdays, Christmas and going several months having to settle for face time and being deprived of hugs and the smell of a grandchild’s hair when they lean into me.
Today like everyday the past 5 weeks all of my thoughts are laced with the angst of worry about my brother-in-law and a good friend who are both in the thick of a war with cancer. Even my therapeutic yard work provided no escape from those thoughts.
As I pulled the giant tomato plants from the ground and cut down the 12’ tall sunflower stalks I smile at the miracle that is watching a garden grow. A tiny seed in May turns into a giant plant capable of producing more food than we can eat ourselves in a matter of weeks. It never ceases to amaze me. I think that is the gardener nerd in me.
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| All ready for fall tilling |
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| Fall flowers tall and beautiful |
My summer job is winding down in perfect time for all the fall activities and preparations to fly south with the birds. My work schedule at the Produce Market has settled down from 30-35 hours a week to 10-15. Like the mild weather the schedule is a relief.
As I look out over the cleared garden plot, I am imagining next year already. The tilled area will be a little larger and the variety of vegetables will be a little different. I am getting ready to dive into the fall planting of grass seed and two new pollinator areas that will lie under the winter bed of snow and germinate while we are gone.
For now, I am taking a deep cleansing breath this afternoon, to prepare my mind and my heart for how quickly the next 7 weeks will slip away.
Until next time…
