Harbinger

And so it goes..... The sun rises later and sets earlier. Mornings are slightly cooler, and fewer cicadas are performing in the dear old trees in the village. Pots of bright chrysanthemums are starting to appear on thresholds, and autumn is in the air.

When Beau and I went out to the deck around four this morning, the constellation Orion was poking its head above the southeastern horizon, and we waved to it. Then we went back into the house for a good cup of coffee and toast. Beau does not do coffee of course, but he loves a fine bit of hot buttered toast.

When the sun rose, I grabbed my cane and tottered out to the veggie patch to weed, water, tidy up a bit and check on the tomatoes. The exercise was painful, but the deed got done. A little tenacity and obdurate self-sufficiency go a long way.

My older daughter and her husband will visit later and liberate a lovely big bag of curly kale. If not for the trashed ankle, I would probably be trundling a barrow of the stuff around the neighborhood and dispensing it to everyone I meet. Is there a goddess of cruciferous vegetables? Just call me Pomona, or perhaps Demeter.