2000-10-10
feeling kinda
fine, i give up. fall is here, and winter soon after it. every october i get a little sad to see the seasons change, and i don't know why that is. maybe the change in weather? we do end up with shorter days and less light. and it seems a shame to stay shut up inside just because it's a little nippy, but i get cold too easily. i could be cold in july, for cryin' out loud.
autumn does bring its own rewards, tho. i was walking thru the college yard last week, on my way to work, and all the trees were green - tall, lush, stately old trees - except for one smaller tree, in the middle of the yard, which had turned a shimmery yellow gold. and there are so many gardens where things are still in flower - golden asters, spiky lavender, sassy pink begonias, wispy cosmos, fuzzy maroon stonecrop, and even a wine-deep purple morning glory vine, still hanging on to the chainlink fence for dear life. you want to cheer them on for lasting just a little bit longer and brightening up the neighborhood.
since i didn't plant a garden this year, i spent a lot of time watching other peoples' gardens as i walked around. there's one near my house that has a flowering tree (cherry or dogwood, maybe) and little beds of different lilies, roses, a dozen different flowers, and a pinwheel planted right in the middle. the gardener there keeps things pretty well trimmed up. there's another across the street that's on the wilder side - rambling daisies, yarrow, sunflowers, tiger lilies all behind the bushes edging the yard. i must have peeked there a half dozen times before i realized there was a pebbled path down the middle of the bed. next year, i think i'll plant another garden, since there's no upstairs dog to battle. oooo, he made me mad. he pissed away so many of my plants that i just gave up. but now that he's gone, it's just me and the birds. i used to think that my grandfather was crazy for spending the winter reading thru seed catalogs and planning his gardens, but i'm beginning to see the sense in it now. curling up with a mug of tea and a garden catalog, deciding which new variety of scented geranium to try, and which bulbs might do well by the bay window - not a bad way to spend a chilly night.
