"But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on."
- Robert FinchI am quite sure this is the man the quote is attributed to.
It is so perfect, to me. This is exactly how we feel just now. The garden is pretty much over except for the glorious hollyhocks that just keep on comin', the sedum, and the ox-eye daisies in the blog header photograph.
"Possessiveness". Isn't that just a perfect word for how we gardeners feel? We are trying to get it to look good and produce good vegetables. And now we can let it go. The season is over and all that happens now is cleanup and moving some plants around. The sun is not "beating on my head" anymore.
And I love that phrase - "intense midsummer relationship". He isn't talking about "midsummer" in the British form. It is the actual middle of the summer, and for us that is pretty much July into August. And now we are in the last month of summer, with fall coming at 3:21 pm Eastern time on the 22nd.
I took a little walk down the road to the mailbox today, and I thought to myself that these September days may be my very favorites of the year. Not only has the garden cooled but so has the air. There are no bugs, and there is an ease about life.
And some of that ease comes from the fact that Tom's mother is leaving the evaluation facility, and going back to where she was - in assisted living. The place also has a spot in memory care, should she need to go there. Not as close to us, but really only 90 minutes away, and Tom's sisters are only 45 minutes away. So we are all breathing a sigh of relief.
And, as I jotted down the quote, I had a vague feeling of having posted it before and by golly I did! You may find the post here if you are interested. I haven't changed a whole lot since 2007.
It is a perfect description of the time of year we are muddling through now. We are off to Maine tomorrow for a brief vacation before more contractors show to finish the work on the house and barn. It will be the last two.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I have been thinking that September is pretty much turning out to be my favourite month this year so far. Not that the months before were bad, but after a wet and chilly summer, September has so far been nothing but sunny and more summerly than July and August were. After you said that about there being an ease of life, at first I thought that with me being so busy with work and everything, I can't say that for myself. But thinking again, I guess I can: A situation at work that bothered me for a long time is in the process of being resolved, and I have only the rest of this and next week to work before O.K. and I are off on our customary September hiking holiday in the mountains!
ReplyDeleteThat is good news about Tom's mother.
What a good time of year for that kind of holiday!
DeleteHappy to see that the logistics involving Tom's mother are working out for the family, Nan. it's a comfort to know that you can always be there in a matter of minutes if necessary.
ReplyDeleteLove the quote...the beginning of fall weather is always welcomed here with open arms, but we do have a ways to go yet. Still, though, it's been a little cooler than normal this year, so it hasn't really been too terrible at all. Right now, we are getting lows in the lower seventies and highs in the upper nineties.
She seems to be settling back in to her original assisted living place. I laughed to myself about "matter of minutes". Texas is truly another country. To us, 90 minutes is quite a long time! The place we were hoping she could go is 5 minutes away but it didn't work out. Anyhow, it is fine she is where she is.
DeleteAgain, that Texas sentence. upper nineties not "too terrible".