I had mention how quiet our dirt road has been since the mysterious disappearance of our Canadian geese. Well this morning the silence was broken. Two geese flew overhead while I was taking my walk. I won't pretend to understand where they have been or why only 2 have come back, but I am glad to see and hear them.
The veggie gardens are in full glory right now. Yep, I'm one of those mad gardeners that spends the winters dreaming of fertile soil and seeds. I have a stack of catalogs for seeds, gardening supplies and books about gardening next to my bed. My bookshelves are filled with volumes of books on gardening, about gardening and anything having to do with growing plants. Yes, I love to garden.
The thrill of it I suppose, is the fact that during the winter I know it is all out there but somehow with the cold and snow I forget about how glorious it all can be. From the first blush on the maples till they drop that last scarlet leaf it is all somehow it is all magical. To think in April the sides of the road were bare. Brown dead grasses, leaves and assorted debris lay there. Now the grasses have heads nodding in the breeze full of seed for next years crop of plants. The trees are covered with leaves, large, small, sharp edged and lobed. Birds have come and raise their broods in and around my gardens. My ornamental grasses are four feet high or taller. Every day I am awed by the colors and different sizes of the daylilies. My 'Winky Pinky', a lovely conical shaped hydrangea has formed flower heads that although white right now will change to pink. There are pumpkins, squashes and beans. Gilfeather turnips are growing larger as I type this.
Of course with all this glory comes the weeds. I don't even know the names of half of them. Some are grasses, some have flowers but all are just ticking me off. I always have good intentions of mulching, keeping ahead of the weeds. But suddenly I look out and there they are, silently and stealthily creeping, crawling and winding their way into my gardens. Now some I don't mind. I have a lovely stand of 'Joe Pye Weed'. Tall and graceful and to me smelling slightly of baby powder. The golden rod just pops with it's bright yellow. But others like bind weed, jewel weed and crab grass just drive me nuts. Some areas it doesn't matter if a few weeds should pop in. There are so many perennials that they almost choke out the weeds. This is the part of gardening I could do without. Or at least I could do with somebody else doing the weeding.
But it is all good. Fall will come, the gardens will get cleaned up and out. The geese will leave (and this time I will know why). Winter will come, the ornamental grass will eventually succumb to the weight of the snow and disappear under it. The 'Winky Pinky' blossoms will turn brown and be blown away. I will forget promises made to myself about gardens and weeds and how much work it all is. Sometime in November the first catalog will arrive with pictures of veggies and flowers and promises of next spring. And I will fall in love with the whole idea again. And then I will wait to hear the geese. Knowing if they are here, spring cannot be far behind. And hopefully next year our dirt road will not have to endure that silence again. After so many years living here I have gotten use to the ebb and flow of life. And I expect that it will not always be the same. But the geese seem to be my constant. They reflect the rhythm of the seasons. I hope as long as I live on this dirt road the geese will continue to come and I will hear them and see them in their daily flights. It's one of the things that makes living out in 'the boonies' worthwhile.
The veggie gardens are in full glory right now. Yep, I'm one of those mad gardeners that spends the winters dreaming of fertile soil and seeds. I have a stack of catalogs for seeds, gardening supplies and books about gardening next to my bed. My bookshelves are filled with volumes of books on gardening, about gardening and anything having to do with growing plants. Yes, I love to garden.
The thrill of it I suppose, is the fact that during the winter I know it is all out there but somehow with the cold and snow I forget about how glorious it all can be. From the first blush on the maples till they drop that last scarlet leaf it is all somehow it is all magical. To think in April the sides of the road were bare. Brown dead grasses, leaves and assorted debris lay there. Now the grasses have heads nodding in the breeze full of seed for next years crop of plants. The trees are covered with leaves, large, small, sharp edged and lobed. Birds have come and raise their broods in and around my gardens. My ornamental grasses are four feet high or taller. Every day I am awed by the colors and different sizes of the daylilies. My 'Winky Pinky', a lovely conical shaped hydrangea has formed flower heads that although white right now will change to pink. There are pumpkins, squashes and beans. Gilfeather turnips are growing larger as I type this.
Of course with all this glory comes the weeds. I don't even know the names of half of them. Some are grasses, some have flowers but all are just ticking me off. I always have good intentions of mulching, keeping ahead of the weeds. But suddenly I look out and there they are, silently and stealthily creeping, crawling and winding their way into my gardens. Now some I don't mind. I have a lovely stand of 'Joe Pye Weed'. Tall and graceful and to me smelling slightly of baby powder. The golden rod just pops with it's bright yellow. But others like bind weed, jewel weed and crab grass just drive me nuts. Some areas it doesn't matter if a few weeds should pop in. There are so many perennials that they almost choke out the weeds. This is the part of gardening I could do without. Or at least I could do with somebody else doing the weeding.
But it is all good. Fall will come, the gardens will get cleaned up and out. The geese will leave (and this time I will know why). Winter will come, the ornamental grass will eventually succumb to the weight of the snow and disappear under it. The 'Winky Pinky' blossoms will turn brown and be blown away. I will forget promises made to myself about gardens and weeds and how much work it all is. Sometime in November the first catalog will arrive with pictures of veggies and flowers and promises of next spring. And I will fall in love with the whole idea again. And then I will wait to hear the geese. Knowing if they are here, spring cannot be far behind. And hopefully next year our dirt road will not have to endure that silence again. After so many years living here I have gotten use to the ebb and flow of life. And I expect that it will not always be the same. But the geese seem to be my constant. They reflect the rhythm of the seasons. I hope as long as I live on this dirt road the geese will continue to come and I will hear them and see them in their daily flights. It's one of the things that makes living out in 'the boonies' worthwhile.
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