Fall Tasks: The Rules Are Different

This has been a crazy autumn. Many people still have flowers blooming in their yards in Kellogg. There has only been one hard frost. The most damage our plants have gotten in the last few days is from the wind. I am used to in the past coming home to help Mom put her garden "to bed" now, wearing a heavy vest and cutting down numerous dead plants. I thought I should deadhead the mums. Those are the flowers above in the bottom of the garbage can. Now the plants have new buds.

This year nothing has died back yet. When I did a tour of Mom's yard the other day she still had calendulas blooming.  I bought and planted a rose about a month ago and it is still blooming. JEJ did put the winter fertilizer on the grass today. I hope it doesn't get new growth now!

I think the garden task calendars are getting a bit out of whack now. The rules are different when it comes to getting a garden and yard ready for winter. I am all for a long, lovely autumn, but I just hope five feet of snow doesn't fall tomorrow. Some time we need to put protection around the roses.

Of course, my Christmas cactus is now blooming. I don't need a fuzzy blanket, but use one anyway. I am ready to wear my mittens, hat, and scarf, but like the milder weather.
The only thing that has been consistent is the time change and darker afternoons.

So much for my plans and to-do lists. I am just going to go with the flow. Maybe it will never get cold. Maybe roses will still be blooming in December. Maybe we will have to gas up that lawn mower again. Time will tell. I will keep you posted!

Kindness: Thanks for the Words of Naomi Shihab Nye

On days like today when there is hurt around the world it makes sense to be angry, feel helpless, feel deep sadness. I always feel like the best thing I can do on days like today is focus on the positive. This poem by Naomi Shihab Nye has gotten me through many difficult times in my life. I had the privilege of hearing her speak once, and she reminded me of the ways we can look at the world with goodness, hope, and love.

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt weakened in a broth.

What you held in your hand,

What you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before your learn the tender gravity of kindness

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and

purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

It is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you everywhere

Like a shadow or a friend.

Naomi Shihab Nye

From Words Under the Words: Selected Poems

Sabbaths and A Year of Being Here

Recently I have spent time revisiting blogs that have been favorites of mine, some for a long time and some for a short time. One that I had not spent time at for awhile was A Year of Being Here. This blog showcases a poem for each day of the year including a lovely photo. If you haven't visited this blog, take a look. Here is a favorite of mine that was posted on the blog recently.

Sabbaths 1999, VII

Again I resume the long

lesson: how small a thing
can be pleasing, how little
in this hard world it takes
to satisfy the mind
and bring it to its rest. 
With the ongoing havoc
the woods this morning is
almost unnaturally still.
Through stalled air, unshadowed
light, a few leaves fall
of their own weight. 
                                 The sky
is gray. It begins in mist
almost at the ground
and rises forever. The trees
rise in silence almost
natural, but not quite,
almost eternal, but
not quite. 
What more did I
think I wanted? Here is
what has always been.
Here is what will always
be. Even in me,
the Maker of all this
returns in rest, even
to the slightest of His works,
a yellow leaf slowly
falling, and is pleased.

Wendell Berry

Never Make Your Home a Place

I really like this quote.
When we were listing the pros and cons of whether to leave the beautiful place we loved on Lake Roosevelt to relocating to a town named Kellogg in Idaho, one theme resonated with both of us. Home was us. Home was ourselves, our lives together, our dogs and cats,  Home was what we wanted to carry with us that was important. Home was again being surrounded by beauty, family, friends, peace, and an easier way of life. We brought our memories, the learning we experienced, and have already experienced new learnings, new friends, and new memories.
I really am pleased with the decision we made. I just wish we could have our chickens again. I miss them. They did go to a good new home.

Ten Reasons Autumn Is My Favorite Season

We can still enjoy the last roses of a late summer.

The street lights up with yellow.

When you make dessert it doesn't heat up the house.

Autumn Joy Sedum

Autumn decor and the smells of November fill the house.

Mums and pumpkins

The doves come to visit.

The sunflowers are ready to shed their seeds.

There is that moment that a tree begins to turn.

It isn't too hot to eat a dinner in the shed.

Surprises I Never Expected: More Thoughts On Moving Back

When it became a realization that I would be able to move back to Kellogg, and move next door to my mother, there were things I knew would work out well. Mom could share the beauty of her backyard and the infamous Seven Sisters Rose We would share meals. Any time I wanted to I could be brought up to speed on General Hospital.  I would always be informed on the best deals at the grocery stories each Wednesday when the ads came out.

Then there were surprises I never expected to happen.

I never expected to have birds coming to our backyard so quickly.

I never expected the cats to adjust so well. We wanted them to be indoor outdoor cats and they have adjusted by staying close to home, avoiding the street, and getting along most of the time with each other.

I never expected to be sitting in a backyard on Cameron Avenue sitting around a fire with my mother!

I certainly never expected to have the longest, mildest late summer/ early autumn I can ever remember allowing us to plan and plant for next year.

I never expected to feel so much at peace so quickly.