The cold came last night...

The cold came last night, not the bitter cold which is yet to come in another four to six weeks but the first killer cold, the cold which puts snow in the visible mountains from my front porch and the death sentence on the leaves of my trees and the flowers in my front yard garden.

Ani had been over since Friday night and we had been busy watching videos, the same videos we watch every weekend she stays: Shrek, Men in Black, Toy Story, Drum Line. Ani brought over a library book and she and Dianne worked at sawing though the volume in the evenings before she went to be. We also went out to Lowes for paint for the ramp, breakfast at Denny’s and finally to Smiths to do a bit of shopping. The cold fronts were moving in as we shopping bring cooler temperatures and rain, light at first then heavy as we finished up but being out was fun and somewhat invigorating as we were finally facing the end of summer. I had kept my eye on the news and the weather which was forecasting a monster storm which turned out to be light in comparison to the reports. But wet and cold enough to feel good to socked into the house, warm with cooking and videos and family life.

The summer lasted long this year, I noted, each day as I rolled down my ramp in the mornings on my way to work, or up in ramp in the evenings as I came home, The flower and the leaves seemed healthy and acted like they would round for ever. There is a huge tree I pass on my way to and from the train station whose leaves have yet to even begin to turn—we have yet to experience a killer frost. This week though, I think I will see the change begin. The yellows and golds will begin working their way in from the ends of the tree’s long branches and soon the leaves will fall or be tugged by the autumn winds now as the wind surly will.
I have really enjoyed Dianne’s flower garden in the front yard this year especially the elephant ears. I have loved this plant as it sprung up in the spring and took color and shape through out the summer. The elephant ears are much more hardy then I would have imagined surviving the hail and intense winds of a couple of storms which blew through in late July and August. I worried after the ears in late-august when we turned off the sprinklers for the year. The ears began to droop and took me a while to realize the droop was because they were no longer getting the moisture the plants needed. UI rushed out with little water and we had a little rain and they perked up a little. I noticed this morning when I` looked out the ears had regained their freshness and looking green and healthy. This early Fall water is but a short reprieve however. The snow on the mountains says it all. The frost will come rolling in with a vengeance later this week or next or at the latest the week after and the beautiful elephant ears will be gone and the growing season will finally be gone for this year. We’re going to dig up the bulbs and see if we can bring back the ears for next year. I hope we can and I hope I will be round to se them.