Monday, August 31, 2009

I’m not ready to say good-bye

Today is the last day of August, how did this happen so fast? Everyone is talking about fall, back-to-school and the like. I’m not ready to give up on summer, I never am. I really like sleeping with the windows open, eating dinner outside on the patio and wearing flip flops. I am a Southern Californian trapped in Oregon. This weekend I was able to enjoy the early morning sun as it lit up the leaves in my garden. I sat there and tried to picture the garden in the coming fall and winter months, the leaves falling, the plants going dormant, I couldn’t. I couldn’t even summon mental images of last winter and the snow and ice. This is exactly the way I want to picture it. I’m declaring September the new August. Really it’s not a stretch, the last couple of years September has brought beautiful weather. Summer isn’t winding down after all! We’ve got weeks left, at least a whole month! Maybe more, October can be downright beautiful too….

9 comments:

  1. Loree, it's obvious you aren't a Southern gardener. I've yet to meet one who wasn't ready to kick August out the door.

    I was under the impression (since you're in zone 8, like Austin) that Portland doesn't get all that cold. What's the weather like in winter?

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  2. Pam, for me it's not really the cold it's the rain and the darkness. When we go off daylight savings time on November 1 the only time I get to see the garden in light is on the weekends. It's just getting light when I leave for work and when I get home it's dark. I hate that the most! Then there is the rain! The rumors are true, it really does rain a lot here. We are very dry in the summer, but very wet in the winter.

    As for snow and ice, that is a rare occurrence. I mention last winder because was record shattering,(and emotionally shattering for me). I couldn't get to work (too much snow and they weren't plowing the roads) but hated being home and seeing my plants under siege. I kept the blinds closed, something I never do as I always want light in the house if I can't be outside. My husband later told me that he had me under suicide watch. It was that bad. We didn't get above freezing for days on end. That is not normal! Most of the time temperatures here during the winter reach into the high 40s during the day and fall back into the low to middle 30s at night.

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  3. Oh, Sweet Loree, I get it, I do - but if you were here in SoCal, you ould be SO EAGER for fall! Just cuz we're almost burning to the ground.

    Your garden looks GLORIOUS! if I were in your shoes, I would want as much summer as I could get, too! It looks as if the extra heat you've had over there this summer has really made things thrive...
    We are brain twins again! I just bought a variegated cordyline and 3 Cyperus papyrus ... I love the way they look nestled around here!

    BTW, I tagged you too for the same MeMe award Tendril did! Look at you, Miss Popular! XOXO

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  4. Hi Loree~~ My youngest daughter's birthday is July 15th, what I call the beginning of summer. My older daughter's birthday is October 13, what I officially call the end of summer. Not a day sooner! Usually within a day or two this is exactly how it pans out. My garden looks its awesome-est right now, with the sun leaning, casting shadows that weren't there in June. I understand what you mean though. I want to bottle the beauty or erect a tent over my backyard. Since I can do neither I'm taking lots of photos. They will be my therapy come January. And I'm hoping for a mild winter. :]

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  5. Oh, my sister. You don't know me at all, but I'm in Portland too, also a gardener (of course), and I've been reading an enjoying your blog for months. My birthday is in August, so I'm kinda partial to the month. But it certainly gets short shrift, holiday-wise, and it does have that poignant feeling to it that you nail so well.

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  6. You love the summer, I'm always wishing it away. I do hate when the plants go dormant, too. I remember several years ago, my garden was new and needed to be watered in the heat. I had a 2 week vacation planned in October, and it was HOT. Summer lasted all the way through the end of October, and I was so mad. My plants were fried. But I always remind myself, when I start happily clicking my heels in September, that we're not out of the woods yet. I think you've got some time for flip flops and dinners in the garden, before it's time for candlelight and hot chocolate and dinners by a fire (really, that doesn't sound fun at all?).

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  7. Tricky to catch the light in photos as you have done so well. Now you can revisit them when you need a quick fix.
    If history is any guide, we can look forward to two more months of the best gardening weather of all...& I'm with Megan:the candlelight, etc., sound like pretty good compensation.

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  8. Germi, the fires...so sad for the people and the animals! I don't take lightly the fact that you all in SoCal so frequently suffer this way. My papyrus...I love it so! But it's one of those plants that I will have to say good-bye to in a couple of months. Thank you for the MeMe!

    Grace, I love the way you think! Your dates sound good to me. And I sooo agree about the mild winter, we deserve it after last year.

    revalani, so glad to learn you have been stopping by and that you decided to comment. I know so many people that are in-tune with the seasons and lusting after fall right now. I feel so out-of-touch when I talk with them. Thank you for letting me know I am not alone.

    Megan, ok I give, you paint a nice picture. And I do love Christmas. It's that pesky month of January that I can do with out. DEPRESSING!

    ricki, good idea! Actually I hadn't thought of that, looking back over my posts might help me when I'm cold and dark in December.

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  9. viburnum "pink dawn", mahonia media x charity, acacia pravissima.

    3 ways to love the winter. blooms and hummingbirds all winter long.

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