Monday, September 20, 2010

Transition time; in between Roosters



My friend Cis called it the "in-between" season on her blog, and since I don't want steal her thunder,  I'll dub it the transition time.  I'm noticing my routine change slightly these days, as it does every year in between summer and fall.  

This year transition season has started much earlier than ever.  That's because summer started much later than ever and decided to head south long before the calendar intended.  

That daily early morning watering?  Pretty much done except for Mother's tomato plants which are bearing fruit in their pots inside the greenhouse.  Who woulda thunk that we needed to put tomatoes inside the greenhouse throughout September?

This is supposed to be prime time for taking your extra tomatoes and finding hungry friends who don't plant gardens.  I've got two tomatoes in the refrigerator.  One's a cherry variety, about the size of a marble; the other is a beefsteak about the size of a golf ball.  

I found those red 'maters over the last couple of days after desperately searching beneath the leaves of my heavy plants.  Lots of tomatoes there but all green except for these two.  That's why I'm figuring Mother's potted plants might give us some semblance of a ripe, juicy, homegrown tomato.  

Anyway, my morning watering routine hasn't been too necessary thanks to the buckets of rain Mother Nature has been dumping on us the past few days.
So, this morning after taking Lily and Heather to the pasture and throwing some hay to Lefty, I used up the usual watering time by taking a walk in the woods. Bill has brush-hogged some trails enough that my pant legs didn't get too wet.  

Kea joined me, jumping up and licking my hand every so often.  I noticed the imprints of deer tracks in the grass and kept a watch out for the critter which had probably walked through the woods just before I did.  And, the pine needles have been falling, creating a nice carpet on the already, soft ground.

It was a peaceful, lovely walk and especially enjoyable because I did not hear squirrels but instead noted that the rooster belonging to the new neighbors to the west has a better perception for crowing time than the one over at Taylor's to the east.  

For the past couple of months, we've been in between the roosters, and Taylor's head chicken crows whenever he feels like it.  But I've heard crowing from the west almost every morning while walking the horses down the lane.  

Having time during this transition period to walk around the farm has been nice.  Seems like I'm usually so busy, I don't make it to the woods as often as I'd like.  It's definitely a sanctuary which reminds me every time how lucky we are to live here.

Another transition I've noticed the last few nights, and especially with the gloomy weather, deals with slumber.  I've been dozing off during the 8 p.m. television hour.  A few weeks ago I wasn't even in the house during the evenings until after 9.  

With darkness, however, comes the sleep, and I've had more than my share the past few nights.

Maybe, if we're lucky, transition time will end for a while.  The rain will stop, the dark, gray, heavy clouds will disappear, and we'll be able to enjoy a little more semblance of summer.  

For now, I'm just looking for the bright spots in the yucky weather, and the roosters, the walks and some good sleep have provided just that.  

Happy Monday. 

2 comments:

Word Tosser said...

Yes, our Early Girls must have decided it rather be late or never Girls.... and the cherry have decided green was better.... I don't know anyone who is getting red tomatoes... not one good story about tomatoes this year.... most of the papers are talking about how to save green ones...

Toni said...

No maters in the Big Piney Woods either!