October Yard Photos

One of the things I love best about my yard in the fall is the grapes that grow all over the back porch. They are very yummy and they smell absolutely divine.

Although our veggie garden is still going strong, most of the flowers in the front yard (except for our faithful roses) have slowed down or stopped.


There are a few exceptions: Aster, Dahlias, & Marigolds are still looking nice.

In the back yard I've got mostly yellows now, with Fireworks goldenrod, sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)and ligularia blooming:

I've got a couple spots that are still showing other colors (last remaining pinks of my hollyhock, some purple butterfly bush and phlox) Soon though I'll begin to get the deep reds from my burning bush, Virginia creeper and the Japanese maple tree.

I definitely want to plant a few new things next year that will give me more variety this time of year. Perhaps I'll put in some mums? But for now, it's all I can do to keep up with squash, tomatoes and cucumbers that are still producing with profusion.

I've heard it's supposed to turn off cold by the end of next week... before you know it will get a freeze and then it will be time to put the garden to bed. I'm ready.

Seasons...

The calendar tells me it is now Autumn. You couldn't prove it by what I've seen. Sure, the days are getting noticeably shorter. But it has still been in the 80's and 90's during the day and my cucumber and squash plants in my garden are showing absolutely no sign of slowing down.

Changings in season can sort of creep up on you like that. There I was, going full tilt boogie in my summer and all of a sudden (or so it seemed) there it was fall.

But if I had really been paying attention I would have noticed some subtle things...

Like how the nights really have been getting cooler
or how that one tree on my nightly walk with the dog is actually starting to drop some leaves.

We still have a ways to go before it will FEEL like autumn. But pumpkins are fat in the field and apples are getting ripe.

In a way I'm sad to say goodbye to summer. I have had the absolute best summer of my entire life this year. For a lot of reasons, I have savored this past season. I've taken some great trips, made some new friends, and very gladly given up my status as "new kid" in Boise. Now that I've lived here a full year, I'm finding my niche and feeling more and more like this is HOME. I belong.

But that's no reason to grieve the passing of summer. If I really do believe this was my best summer, why can't I follow it up with my best ever fall? I love autumn. I'm hoping to get to do some trips to where I'll get the full spectrum of colors and maybe - just MAYBE I'll be making some changes in the near future that will give me more freedom in that regard.

So goodbye summer. Thank you for some fabulous memories.
Hello autumn. Let's dance.

Here Comes The Sun

FINALLY - after a long, cold, rainy spring the SUN has come out for summer solstice. On the longest day of the year it got up to 87 degrees in Boise. It is supposed to hit the 90's tomorrow. I say BRING IT ON.

My flowers are POPPING in the heat...what were just petal balls and buds yesterday are now full blooms and the garden is growing like gangbusters.

My peonies went from THIS:



TO THIS:







The Foxglove is fully open now:



The baskets are looking great and the vegetables in the raised beds are growing so fast you can almost watch them get bigger:



I've picked radishes, spinach and cilantro. My mouth is watering for my first fresh tomatoes...but those are still months away.

Still... SUMMER is here. At any eclipse or solstice my friend Sylvana says its time to go do the naked jiggly dance in the moonlight. Um, no. Not for me. But I will very much enjoy watching my flowerbeds transform to their summer splendor.
I was sad to see all the spring colors go when the tulips and azaleas faded, but this reminds me all over again that every season has its own beauty.

I dread the high water bills and pulling weeds in the 90+ days is not always fun. But I'm really happy to watch the seasons unfold.

Seasons of Life

As I sit looking out the window looking at the snow coming down I am mindful that there is beauty in every season of life. While I may long for warmer days and miss my lush green yard with all its flowers, it is only because the ground freezes and we get a cold season that many of my dormant bulbs will be able to bloom well come spring.

I'm trying to learn to go with the flow more in my life, learn to accept the ups and downs, shifts and transitions that come my way with a bit more equanimity.

I recently shared the story of The Precious Present by Spencer Johnson with a friend of mine. It's a tale worth remembering as I work at letting go of worry over what has been or what might be.

Change is inevitable. I'm hoping I can be more open to welcoming whatever life lessons come my way, even those that are not packaged in the color or style I would have chosen.

What I am learning is there is a distinct difference between pain and suffering.
Pain is inevitable. Suffering, however, is optional. I've come to believe that regardless of how much pain the world may dish out at me, whether or not I will suffer with it will be based on how I define and relate to painful experiences.

Lately I've been re-reading Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" I remember the basic story pretty well from when I read it many years ago. But because my life is in a very different place now I find I'm discovering all sorts of different layers to it this time around.

Sometimes life hurts. Learning to choose joy even in the midst of that hurting is a challenge worth mastering.