Tag: seasons

Hello darkness my old friend

August 29th, 2023

I was surprised this morning when I emerged from the aquatic center and the still, humid air was dark. The past few months I’ve been swimming at 5:30 am, and every day when I’ve pushed the glass door open into the morning after my laps, I’ve walked out into light. Not so this morning. The pool was closed last week for end-of-summer maintenance, and in those 8 days, the season changed.

Well, obviously it didn’t actually change. The forecast shows temperatures nearing 90 degrees farenheit in coming days. And the title of this post may be a little dramatic for August, when we have daylight from 6:30 in the morning until 8:15 at night.

But the point is that darkness is my friend. I was excited to emerge into an inky morning after my swim. I can’t wait for cool air and shorter days, jeans and sweaters and crackling fires.

Summer was fun, but I’m done with it. I’m ready to move on. Over the weekend I went to the candle store and stocked up on fall scents: harvest, autumn leaves, witches’ brew, pumpkin spice. I trimmed oak branches so I can see my bird feeder, cut back summer-burned flowers, dug up plants that weren’t thriving, and started thinking about how to arrange the garden so it has more autumn flare. I want it to blaze come October. And then I want to cozy up into the night.
And so we turn towards spring

February 2nd, 2022

I bought roses yesterday. February 1st marks a turning in the year, where we’re nearly halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is the hump day of winter.

I bought roses because I wanted fresh flowers. I am not desperate for winter to end like I’ve been in the past. Instead, I’m enjoying the cold and the down time while I think how delicious the first warm day will be, and how beautiful the blossoms when they begin.

Until then, to savor both the winter and the coming spring, I might just keep buying flowers.
Winter clothes

October 14th, 2021

I dragged a kitchen chair into our closet yesterday so I could reach the storage bins on the shelf. Even though it’s been warm the past week and will continue to be warm for the next few days, I’m tired of my summer clothes and wanted to see what fun stuff I might have packed away for cooler weather.

The cats sniffed around as I opened one bin then sat on top of the other to observe. The first bin had thick fisherman sweaters and deep winter tunics. Those won’t be useful for a while. Beneath those were a few lighter weight sweaters that will be good for fall. From the second bin, I pulled out corduroys, a couple of sweater dresses, a lightweight turtleneck dress.

As I laid the bulky clothes out on my bed, I realized I needed to find a place to put them. I opened the dresser to study what was in there. I eyed my closet to see what I won’t wear again now that the highest temperature in the foreseeable forecast is 80℉ (27℃).

The kitchen chair is back at the table, pushed neatly in. In the closet now, on a shelf I cannot reach, are my board shorts and sundresses. Close at hand in the dresser, I’ve got warm comfies for fall and winter.

I need the cold weather to begin so we can just get this over with.
The seasons changed overnight

September 25th, 2021

One day it was summer, and the next it was fall. The autumn equinox was a gray, chilly day; I lit a pumpkin and sage candle in my office and listened to the sound of rain patter while I worked.

A week ago, we had our windows closed with the air conditioner on. I wore sun dresses and bare feet. The day before the equinox, we threw the windows open. I wore long sleeves with summer skirts, or short sleeves and jeans. We kept the windows open for about three days, and now they’re closed again, this time because it’s too cold to have them open; it’s 42℉ (6℃). I’m wearing slippers, socks, running tights instead of shorts, and a sweatshirt. I bought canned pumpkin for impulse baking. I’ve started to think about when it will be a good time to have our first fire in the fireplace.

I miss the ocean, but the seasons where we live take away some of the sting of not being by the beach. We seem to be at just the right latitude and altitude to get the best of what seasons have to offer: autumn leaves and crisp air in the fall, occasional but not oppressive snow in the winter, flowering trees and tulips and daffodils in the spring, and a wild profusion of lush green and flowers and butterflies in the summer. The seasons here change like clockwork on the equinoxes and solstices, they each last a full quarter of the year, and just when we tire of one, the next one is here.

Except winter. I’m done with winter after a month. Basically after Christmas. But the full three months sure makes me appreciate spring.
The garden through the year: monthly comparison photos

November 10th, 2018

Last winter I obsessed over the garden. I scoured seed catalogs, bought graph paper to design flower beds, stood at the back door staring at the bare hill and tried to visualize what it would look like with plants on it.

Now that everything is dead and gardening season is over, I wanted to take a look at the gardens’ transformation through the months.

Back garden

Back hill, marked for flower beds. February 2018

Forsythia in bloom, March 18, 2018

Back hill, March 25, 2018

Back hill after transplanting plants from front garden. April 21, 2018

Moved more plants from out front. May 21, 2018

Bought some plants, others filling in, seedlings starting to grow. June 17, 2018

Flowers blooming, weeds proliferating. July 2018

As filled in as it’s going to get. Late August, 2018

Peak. Some things starting to fade. Early September, 2018.

Time to clear out spent stems. October, 2018.

I need to rake leaves for compost. November, 2018.

Front bed

February. So sad.

Moved some plants, sowed some seeds. Bought new perennials. May 2018.

Starting to flower, including seeds I sowed. July 2018.

Wrong angle, but the only August shot I have.

Early September.

October 2018

November 😭

Now I can study these photos all winter to see where I want to change things. I’ve already got a seed catalog stashed away for a snowy day.
Celebrating spring with snow, seeds, and a green feast

March 25th, 2018

We wanted to prepare a feast on the spring equinox to mark the final cold breath of winter. We hadn’t planned a meal or shopped for it, our kids were sick, and with a looming snowstorm (that resulted in 2-3 inches of snow on our garden), the weather was decidedly not spring-like on the first day of spring.

We skipped the dinner and said, “We’ll do it this weekend.”

As I wrote yesterday, this weekend brought yet another dumping, this one three times deeper than the first-day-of-spring snow.

Snow falling on Saturday, March 24

Kitty in the window, watching for birds

This morning, the sun rose over a scene out of a Christmas card. The sky was clear, the trees and rooftops coated in piles of heavy snow.

Spring pastels: pink sunrise over snow

Drooping dogwoods and bright morning sun on snow

Back garden under snow

Oak and spruces (?) under sticky snow

With the bright sun, the morning FWUMP of piles of snow avalanching from trees, the drip drip drip of snowmelt, and the gorgeous blue sky, we’ll have our spring celebration today.

I made seed muffins this morning, filled with walnuts, sliced almonds, flax seeds, toasted sunflower seeds, and poppy seeds.

Spring seed muffin

I started herb and kale seeds indoors today, our daughter wrapped the front door wreath in spring green and pink ribbons, and she dipped strawberries in chocolate for dessert. My husband made bread and will grill fish. He shoveled the porch first thing this morning so it could melt all day for him to get to the grill. I made deviled eggs, a spring greens salad, and a spring pea and mint salad.

Pea and mint salad for spring

Who knows if winter is really done. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. But after yesterday’s beautiful snow, we’re celebrating as if that was the final snow, and as if spring is imminent. Maybe we can will it to come by swallowing all the seeds in the muffins, or with all this green on our table.