What is it about August that just sucks the life out of everything - not just the garden, but the people, too? I used to think it was July that did it, but now I realize that it's really August.The garden has looked like Norma Desmond for the last few weeks - ready for close-ups only. The panoramic views have been much too depressing. The humidity soared making even the smallest, most simple chore exhausting. It was too muggy to sit on the deck and enjoy the comings and goings of the birds and butterflies, and the pots were requiring oceans of water just to stay alive.
For the humans around here it was a difficult month, too. A birthday party that brought many together for a fun evening was repeatedly threatened by the only rain of the month. Surgery and recuperation followed at a snail's pace, and then the earthquake and Irene. All in all, a lousy 30 days!
Now, finally, the first stirrings of fall have appeared with September. A bit less humidity (well, not today!) and the bright skies that accompanied Irene's high pressure ridge. Significant rain from Irene that has refreshed plants and started a late season burst of blooms. The fall-blooming plants are perking up, and people seem more calm and refreshed. Suddenly I am filled with plans for the fall - putting in a new cutting garden topping the list - and feel like I have the energy required to see these plans thru. It's like a mid-year beginning. Maybe it's the rhythm of the school year that flows in our blood even after all these years away from school. Perhaps September is the real start of our year, not January.
In any case, I welcome this new feeling of hope and energy and the desire to get outside and do something in the dirt. I think it augers for good things to come yet this [calendar] year!
