a landmark falls

the Eureka High School (the old elementary) came down 9/28/2011...

This Is Why...

Rabbit Bush... this is the reason my eyes itch and water so. This is why I am stuffy and can't breath through my nose for a month. This is why the idea of snow is not so bad to me right now. Rabbit Bush!

our grape harvest

Our two-foot high grape vine provided this plentiful harvest. These grapes are almost as big as our raspberries! We are thinking of juicing them.

We can feel summer winding down. Monsoons (though fairly dry lightning storms) have cut the daytime temperatures to about 75 degrees F. Many of the flowers in our yard are going to seed now. We are harvesting beans, broccoli, and summer squash and putting the garden beds down for the season. We keep one eye on the weather reports waiting for the frost warnings.

And... I'm keeping an eye on our two apples!

Labor Day 2011

cloudy and cooler... summer's finally broken... fall is coming.

this summer's fullness

This summer fullness

of leaf and stalk,

flower and fruit...

abundance

feeding birds and us,

seems so far from

the cold white barren

that melted before,

and now hints a quiet promise

of its return.

I live here and now,

and in the past and future,

as nature too,

with mulch and seeds,

and migrating birds,

and shorter days

and cooler nights.

a metaphor

Summer Squash!