September 27, 2023
It feels as if September has
been the fastest-passing month of the year, so far. The sky, as we like to say
here in the Ashbury household, has already “turned”. There’s a different hue to
the blue up yonder in autumn than there is in summer, and we noticed that
change about two weeks ago.
Of course, we’ve had a couple of
chilly days—but more, a couple of nights that were a bit close to frost
territory. Generally, when that happens, it’s nature’s signal that winter is
headed toward us. The leaves on the trees begin their process of changing color,
and garden plants begin their slide toward withering.
Our gardens are nearing the
end of their season, and there are no more blossoms being produced on the
tomato plants. Now it’s simply a matter of waiting for the last few tomatoes to
ripen to the point that they can be picked. If we get a frost warning, we’ll
likely pick the few remaining green ones and surround them with newspaper. I
don’t know why that works and helps them to turn red rather than rot; I just
know that it does.
We’ve had an excellent tomato
season this year. We had tomatoes out the ying and the yang. We ate tomatoes,
we gifted tomatoes, and now, we are darn near sick of tomatoes. We figure that
in about three months, we’ll begin anticipating the next growing season and can
only hope that the tomatoes are as beautiful and plentiful then as they were
this year.
And next year we will
plant green beans in their own darn garden—well, they could give a bit of space
to the Swiss chard, but they will not be planted in the same table-garden
as the tomatoes.
There are times when I feel as
if Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us this year. There we were, in January
and February, hoping for the warm weather and summer-time good times, and didn’t
that woman just prove herself a bitch? She made summer nearly insufferable for
so many people. While it was good for the gardens, it sure didn’t allow for much
fun and frolic for the humans. Very funny, M. N. You would think she’d
understand by now that we humans are never truly happy no matter what the
weather is, and to not take all our griping and grumbling so personally.
It does become a challenge,
with all the animosity online and on the television, with the deep divisions
between “tribes”, to keep a good attitude in this modern world of ours. It gets
frustrating listening to all the damn stupid that seems to be multiplying and
taking over everything like some kind of verbal kudzu.
Yes, I am a Canadian, but I
know all about kudzu.
Do y’all recall one of my
favorite little sayings? The one in particular that I am thinking about today
is this: “life is 5 % what happens to me and 95% how I deal with it”.
I’ve begun to apply that rule
to the area of the news/talking heads/political gobbledygook onslaught we’re
all suffering through lately.
The other thing I think that I
need to do is to remember to just have faith.
I need to have faith that,
while the stupid has never seemed so virulent as it is today, it’s still the minority
state of being. I truly do believe that there are more good people than people
of ill will; that “stupid” might be the loudest, but it’s not the most; that most
people may not broadcast their views, but they believe in the positive values
of working for a living, obeying the laws, telling the truth, having compassion,
and helping others when possible.
That’s not a Pollyana-like attitude
on my part, that’s just the truth. And while the talking heads are setting
their hair on fire after wetting their beds because “no one is standing up to
stop the stupid!”, I believe that the people of good will and basic human
decency, aka the majority of us, will stand up when it’s the proper time to do
so. And they will do so without theatrics and fanfare.
In the meantime, we have to be
our own best friends by ensuring that we don’t let the crazies in this world
get us down. So, take a look at how you spend your days. Cut down on your
exposure to the crazies and take a moment to simply be grateful for all you
have that is good. Give thanks for your family, your friends, and every good
thing in your life.
I guarantee you that doing so
is the very best way to keep your sanity in these crazy times.
Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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