I promise I won’t complain too much about the fall or winter, but this morning I was freezing and the signs were all around that summer is over, so I just had to share a few of them:
1. My coconut oil gets hard. I use organic coconut oil as my only moisturizer and keep a jar of it in my bathroom. You know it’s cold out when you have to scrape the coconut oil out of the jar instead of pour it. It’s like a thermometer.
2. It’s too cold to get out of bed in the morning. I sleep with the windows open most of the year, and you know that summer is over when it’s super hard to get out from under those warm layers of blankets. Of course, I do have to get out of bed because kids need to go to school early and I need to get to work. Speaking of which…
3. School buses slow down the morning commute. School buses are a great invention, and I support them completely. It’s just that when they’re on the road, you just know it’s not summer anymore.
4. The garden starts to shrivel up. All those crazy weeds and rampant vegetables and vines start to die back and turn brown. Of course, the good news is you often find things underneath them—like the garden tools you lost earlier in the season…or pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins!
5. I have to wear socks. I hate socks. But I also hate cold feet. And I hate shoes (I try not to hate too much). The truth is, I’d rather wear a pair of warm socks than have cold feet. So even though I’d rather not wear them, I’m grateful to socks. It’s just that the day I have to find a pair of socks is when I truly know the season is over.
Well, here in dry, sunny Colorado we have had rain, and more rain, with small hailstones and more rain. Can’t complain as we always need rain, but the hail did end all my Cosmos blossoms, so I know summer is over. But I do love the fall, so I am not unhappy! (However, I don’t like umbrellas!)
Yayyyyyyy cool weather!! I’ve just left Iceland for Berlin. Cool, cool, cool. I am in heaven! Haven’t worked up a sweat. A lot of walking and discovering. Loving it!
The dogwood leaves are falling. The mullberry leaves are falling. The colors are starting to mute, but thanks to my late sowing of sunflowers and zinnias and love in a mist, and dark knight pincushions, and cutting back my yarrow (making a new batch of the varied shades I have planted), I’m squeaking out more of what I love about summer. We had so much rain this year, but now it’s as dry as can be.
Fall. I always have to get used to it.
And winter that follows.
I am looking forward to spring already.
Maria: I am currently a federal employee & veteran who would rather be farming. I got stuck in this career path when the rust belt turned rusty & not much opportunity here. Given current sequestration nightmare in DC, I could be unemployed very soon. I plan to attend the Farmer Veteran Coalition Women Veterans conference in Louisville in Nov. Do you have any recommendations for me to transition to farming? If I lose my job, I would be willing to relocate. Thanks!