oooo! look at the pattern of ice in the garden dish
have you ever wondered ...why such details?
in everything?

humbling, it is

40, and still growing strong

Would you believe that this plant is over 40 years old?
My husband bought it for me in our first year of marriage
when we lived in a tiny furnished apartment....ah those were the good old days
We had a tiny little room in the back...that was always bathed in sunlight
and I loved plants...so quickly it became our plant room....oh the luxury of youth
I recall with sweetness the sweet potato that I stuck into a vase of water....and it grew all around the room
our Landlady was amazed......she couldn't grow or cook a thing
Me...green thumb in my DNA
I lugged those plants around to 5 houses throughout the years
and this is the only one left.....I had a mother in law tongue that I finished off two years ago....leaving her outside too long....oh woe
But, this asparagus fern is well and growing.....my daughters fight over who will get it
Hey, where do you think I'm going?
Once while visiting my son in Laguna Beach, California....I saw that they grew there abundantly
...in his neighborhood...thorns and all.....lovely seeing them growing that way
I often feel sad for plants imprisoned in pots....oh, I know I am a bit of a ditz this way
and cut flowers bother me too...once wrote a whole essay about that
anyway......I love this fern.....this lifelong companion..this reminder of the man who gave it to me
and the 41 years...today...that we enjoy

The garden waits,
as do I, for winter to move in.
We have been teased by warmer than usual weather
and only a brushing of snow,once
and not on Christmas
I left my tray of goodies out on Christmas Eve for my wards
nuts,fat,greens,bread cubes,seeds,berries
my annual Christmas offering to them
In the morning everything was gone
last night I looked out to see a possum sniffing around the dry grasses
I have not forgiven him for killing my squirrel
But I don't know why it happened...maybe my squirrel was sick or injured
and he just happened upon him..sniffing around one night
It is a good thing to let it go...to be part of the garden
and let it go..let it be...let it happen
hard as this is for me to do..I, who want to control my environment sometimes
to become one with the garden...even now... as we wait for winter
some green still showing

dead vines on brick wall
shadows look like skeletons
winter soltice day

It is a dreary day today, gray skies, annoying drizzle
little bird or squirrel activity
and while walking along the muddy garden path
I realized it has really arrived
the time of no color
Humans ,I think,
aren't meant to go through this deprivation
it must have something to do with that darn angel
sent to guard the way in
For surely, this is punishment

Sometimes the garden seems like an assemblage
...a bit of this and that
layered upon layer
until you stand back and say
Oh my!...
even in the last days of autumn

 I went inside

and had fun with the sun

outside

All I could think of this morning
was the line from the movie,Oliver...."More please"
Like hungry orphans my resident wards
showed up early, sitting up and begging on the deck
not 9 of them(thinking of you Witch)...only 3 this time
I threw out a few peanuts and some low carb bread
they scampered quickly to grab what they could and headed to the safety of the branch
As you can see we had a dusting of snow
....a reminder that it begins:
winter

 

It's like seeing in black in white

...going into the garden

a bit of wheat color here

a shade or two of muted green

dried crumbles of leaves fading fast their autumn colors

Even the sky is white/gray

and the rain only sets the mood

like a cemetary

full of stories

unspoken

I counted nine squirrels just a few feet from my deck

Must be the pumpkins

Now I ask you...is it fair for my squirrel wards

to pass the word?

I don't think so....

It reminded me of the time we had 4 cats

It wasn't bad until we saw them all lined up at the food bowls

yikes...that's a lot of kitty kat

As is 9 squirrels

but gee they are so cute

and my hubby is still in the hospital

what he doesn't see won't hurt him

.....and I won't tell him that I found the birdfeeder heater

either..

well..........the little guys have to drink

after all that pumpkin

cheer and joy

I have needed these little breaks......these walks in the garden

I need to look for joy....

Today it is chilly and the skies are a white gray

not my favorite kind of sky....I could use a heartache blue sky

but I am not the stage manager...so gray sky it is

the ground is wet and in some places muddy...with little footprints

from the grand kids a day or so ago when one of them tripped and knock a tooth loose

....an unexpected trip to the dentist followed

But this morning it is just me

I communed with the garden...quietly praying as I took each step

The garden...the ordinary garden...the ordinary

how I wish every day could be ordinary

But the garden reminds me that even in the depths and ending of autumn

heading into winter...there is life

a sudden discovery of a bloom...surrounded with dried up leaves

leaves...leaves that have released and accepted their fate

returning to the earth to become part of her

The squirrels ...6 of them!...are scurrying about

leaping and jumping.....they always bring a smile to my face

 They have found the pumpkins I put out a day ago

Maybe next spring I will have big yellow blossoms

springing up in secret places....maybe I'll have a pumpkin or two

oh joy...unexpected joy and anticipation

yes, I needed this walk

this ordeinary stroll through barreness

that wasn't really barren at all

but filled with joy