Liam, sunning himself on a warm fall day…
Every year it happens. Fall arrives, and we welcome it with open arms as a happy counterpoint to months of sizzling temperatures.
It comes just in time too, since by this point we’ve tired of watching spring plantings gradually and inexorably succumb to summer’s never ending heat and humidity.
With the new season come truckloads of pumpkins, branches of bittersweet, traditional mums, and sweet pansies, showing all the hues of the harvest, blanketing the front of the shop with a riot of color.
Even the orchids give way, the elegant white phalaenopsis stepping aside as oncidiums and dendrobiums in shades of yellows, golds, deep purples, and browns take center stage.
Working with plants as we do, the seasons seem magnified.
Our livelihoods are driven by them, and we look forward to the next, even as we finally tire of the previous palette’s flowers, herbs, shrubs, vegetables.
Of all the seasons, fall seems to be the most fleeting, at least here in Birmingham, Alabama.
Perhaps it’s the relentless march of the holidays, with Thanksgiving accordioned between October and December, and hearing the strains of Christmas music all too soon.
So, as I write this the beginning of November, with Thanksgiving still weeks away, I’m already feeling melancholy for fall.
The harvest season simply doesn’t last long enough for me. Looking through the pictures to add to this post lifted my spirits, and I hope they do yours too.
I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving and the opportunity to celebrate all we have to be thankful for, and I’m trying to remember to enjoy each season, even those that pass far too quickly.
A final thought; Don’t allow yourself to get overly stressed during the coming holidays. Try to appreciate each day and the beauty it brings, and, above all, remember to slow down and breathe. A new season with fresh beginnings is right around the corner.
By Kris Blevons
Fall in the greenhouse..
