Here it is -November! Ever since 2003 when my father was hospitalized and then died, my ability to pay attention to the garden has been in regression. I remember when the author of “turning earth” had lost her sister and she had a time when her garden was put on a back burner. I don’t think for as long, though.
My life has changed so much. I have had more obligations outside my homelife, which was one reason to concentrate upon the hobby of gardening: it meshed so well with the SAHM life. I have been going steadily into what seems a November of life. Getting ready for the diminished opportunities ahead, graying out some of the brighter explosions of energy and enthusiasms.
My garden has been changing, too. Some years ago I started to depend more on shrubs. They are now growing quite large, and some of the perennials have been lost, they needed more care than what I had given. Sometimes I wish I could just lose myself in the garden, but there are just too many demands elsewhere. And so. I have a neglected garden and I am too ashamed to write about gardening when my own is in disrepair.
Do you have anything you would like to change but feel is hopeless and that you are helpless? That is how I feel about my gardens at this juncture. But I keep telling myself that I will rekindle my enthusiasm, and perhaps I may. I have tried to recover my health, which was compromised by the stress and overwork of dealing with my parents, and I will be finished with the process of moving my mother to my home by next spring. So perhaps the time and the energy will be there for gardening.
It seems so little time has been left for my own interests that they have all shriveled. I do write quite a bit in the other blog, truegrit, but that is the only personal outlet I have anymore. Sounds sort of dismal doesn’t it? Sort of dark November with leaden depressing clouds. Sorry. Don’t mean to.
I don’t mind November, actually. While it’s colors are muted, there is a quietness to the rain and the overcast days. The leaves finish falling from the tress and everything looks so architectural. I hear the birds more clearly, which I surmised was from the loss of the leaf cover muffling their sound. The nights are calm and the moon of November is an ethereal glowing, not the golden and impressive look of October’s moon. As if a few steps could take you to its surface…. November is distant and reserved, shining with its far away beauty. Last night it was framed with striations of cirrus clouds like French ticking on the bias. Very decorative and striking.
I collected some Hedge apples, the fruit of the Osage Orange tree. If I ever get my dining room straightened up ( presently serving as catch-all for all the organization projects) I hope to have them sit in a big bowl of fragrant acid green. They often last until the New Year.
If I do any last minute gardening I will report it here. Right now the only thing happening is leaf raking!
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