first frost

All winter we patiently wait for the first days of summer to arrive.  We wait and we wonder.  Will it be another rainy summer?  Will it be a decent summer where we're lucky to see a few days of sunshine?  Or will it be one of those rare summers where we bask in the sun all month long....  Then.... before we know it, we're doing fall cleanup and getting the yard ready for winter again. 

That's what my sweet hubby and I have been doing the last few weeks.  Cutting all the plants down to the ground, exposing slugs.  Putting yard art away for another season.  Tidying up the yard.  Admiring the good, the bad, and the ugly, making notes of what did well and what changes will need to be made the following year.  Then, just as we wait for the dog days of summer, we wait for fall to arrive.  That first hard frost that tells us summer is truly over.  

We don't have to wait any longer.  It finally arrived a few days ago, in all its glory.  While the shrubs were still covered with their early morning frost, I headed outside to enjoy those last moments with the garden that I love.  As I wandered along the garden paths, I could hear the garden going to sleep for another season, as leaf after leaf dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. 

Seasons come and seasons go, and with each new season, new challenges and new wonders.  It's almost time to let my garden go for another season.  Soon, it'll all be covered with a white blanket of snow and then the waiting begins all over again.