August 16 - August 20 Hot Nights End

2010-Each leaf, because of its particular shape and size reacts to the breezes in its own way.  I am watching the long slender nectarine leaves shiver in a breeze so slight it affects nothing else.  There is something in the movement that seems so alive, and isn’t it?  Perhaps it is the movement of the leaves that stirs the breeze.

Long nectarine leaves
Dance in the shivering breeze.
Which of those came first?

Leaves are falling already and there are spots of red and yellow amongst the trees; the result of a long drought as well as the first cold nights.  The ash I girdled in the spring to allow the blueberries more light is finally succumbing.  I am not proud of it though I deemed it necessary and it is raining down yellow leaves which I find beautiful.
2011-A year later the ash still lives, though it seems to lose its leaves earlier than other trees.  The blueberries were disappointing this year. Actually, everything seems muted.  There is much foliage because of the rain, but the fruits and flowers are less than usual.  I noticed yesterday the Queen Anne’s Lace is blooming almost alone which makes it easier to appreciate what a beautiful flower it is.
This close observation is slowly changing my point of view but with unexpected consequences. The grass must be mowed--but must it? Yesterday I steered that violent noisy machine over a patch of the very same lacy flowers I just claimed to love. Crickets and spiders living in the lawn scrambled out of the way. I think the lawn looks nice but does it really?  I commiserated with P when she complained of hearing the sounds of the cutting down of trees in her neighborhood, but isn’t mowing the same thing on a smaller scale?  I’m very attracted to Fukunawa’s theory of no plowing, no weeding, no fertilizing farming, I.e. following nature’s methods of growing.  Just look at healthy weeds! But to take the idea a step further, wouldn’t it be ideal to learn to live off what is already, naturally, growing?
2012-Again I am looking at the flourishing weeds and they call to me more than the cultivated plants. Perhaps this is a late summer phenomenon- I’m just tired of ‘making’ things grow.
2013-The meadow next door, waiting to be mowed, glows in rich golden colors; mellow late-season foliage and bee-swarmed goldenrod flowers.