Last of Summer's Days

Summer is winding down. By informal tradition, summer has already since passed. It is after Labor Day after all. Counting summer from the solstice to the equinox, there are a few days still left. The season is changing. The warm days are still here, but there is much cold dew in the morning as well as a coolness in the air. The evenings and nights are cool. Tonight during a class break just a bit past seven in the evening, I went for a little walk on campus to stretch my legs. The sunset sky with all its varied hues was simply wonderful. A treat for the eyes. The colors strong and true with almost infinite variation and a subtlety that no painter's brush has yet captured. Had I a camera with me I'd have taken a few pictures. Unfortunately I don't think they would have done the scene justice. During those few minutes of peace while watching the setting sky, I thought about my wife and boys and how they would appreciate the scene. I also thought of my friends, both near and far, recent and long established, those who I keep in touch with and those to whom I've not spoken to in too long a while. Change of seasons always have me in a mixed nostalgic and slightly melancholy mood. It is the passing of time witnessed by the changes all around as inexorably the future continuously gives way to the present and the present becomes the past. I say a silent and heartfelt prayer for friends, family and myself that we all may have good fortune and health. If we are all just a little fortunate we'll glimpse a bit of unexpected everyday beauty, and gratefully enjoy the moments of bliss it brings.

Beans, Cucumbers, Peppers, Tomatoes, Oh My!

This season, in addition to the flower beds we've put into the backyard, we've put in a two beds and about a dozen stand alone pots of various vegetables. We planted cucumbers, beans, peppers and tomatoes earlier in the season. The cucumber vines yielded at least three dozen cucumbers over about a month. That was fairly successful, the cucumbers were a common side dish for a little while. They were quite delicious too. The green beans yielded only two bowlfuls. That was enough for side dishes for two meals. That proved a little bit disappointing but it was enough for a start. Perhaps next time we will be little bit more successful with the green beans. The peppers are an ongoing story. We have both sweet and spicy ones. We've already included some peppers in salads and other dishes. Some of the spicy peppers proved a bit too much, the rest were just wonderful. Next year we'll most likely plant them in the garden beds rather than in stand alone pots. Last, but certainly not least, we planted several varieties of tomatoes both in beds and in pots. Those in pots did not do as well as those in the beds, probably because the beds require less watering and work on our part. The tomatoes started off slow but over the past two weeks we've had a veritable cornucopia of tomatoes. Yesterday I collected the third five-quart bowl of miniature tomatoes from the garden beds. For as many as I've collected, just as many I've had to let go because they either burst or were past their prime. Had I been more conscientious with the gardening we would have had even more. As it stands, everyone has had more than their fill of tomatoes, in salads, soups, and in hand snacks. We had so much we shared our tomato bounty with our neighbors and they enjoyed them too. Our food gardening efforts proved fairly successful, and we got far more edible food out of our two food garden beds and a dozen standalone pots than I would have imagined. The tomatoes and peppers are not done yet, and the bean an cucumber bed we replanted with radishes, broccoli, lettuce and cabbage. We are hoping for a late crop just before frost in mid to late October. Over all the food garden has been a success, both my wife Misce and I are pleased with our efforts and results.