“That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight. Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower. We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.”
William Wordsworth
(Photograph: the Rose Garden in the park near Buckingham Fountain/ Chicago, Illinois/ Julie Cook/ 2013)
Weather–can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Somewhere in this great big world of ours the sun is shining, folks are outside enjoying the day and some beautiful weather……but where that may be….I simply don’t know… for you see, the weather here in the Georgia, and through much of the South, has been well, in a nutshell, wet! And I’m not talking just recently. This has been going on for months.
Our spring was a long wet, cold, tiresome block of time that merely merged into a time that was formerly known as summer. Our summer has been wet, damp and cool. For the past two days, temperatures have smashed the records for the lowest highs on a summer’s day for over 100 years in Atlanta. It was cooler here yesterday then it was in Maine.
It has rained so much that we exceeded our year’s allotment for rain back in early June. Two years ago there was a horrendous drought… so much so that our large glorious trees began to die. This year the massive grand and beautiful southern oak trees, poplars, even the stickly tall pines have been falling all over the area due to the stress of droughts now followed by excessive rains. The root systems of these trees, in some cases 100 years plus old trees, have not been able to maintain the tree’s weight in all this soggy soil.
Remember the garden…the glorious garden that I was so excited about planting, tending and nurturing??… it is all but a total wash. The rain has been so abundant that the tomatoes never turned in a timely fashion– as one needs sun in order to fully ripen. Many of the tomatoes actually spilt and burst on the vine from all the rain before they were ripe. And those blasted fire ants…one would think that all the rain would drown them—but no. For some bizarre reason, they have been prolific. I treat one red mound and the next day it seems as if the one multiplied into 4. I know they must have the divide and conquer mentality. I’ve all but given up.
It has been wet, chilly and gray—more reminiscent of late October or early March—not mid August. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Fall/ Autumn, I love sweaters, and I love seasons. What I don’t love is incessant rain and dampness and constant gray skies particularly when I live in what is known as the sunny South. Do I want the dog days of summer back—no! What I do want is moderation and an equalling out of this crazy extreme weather! I want that also for the states out west who are now suffering under relentless hot dry winds which are fanning flames of destructive fires…
It must be some sort of el nina, la nina, crazy nina pattern that has the country upside down. So many here are suffering from allergies, mold issues and sinus infections that don’t normally plague us this time of year. I suppose the upside is that AC bills will be less. Does this mean we’ll have a colder winter? I haven’t seen any wooly bear caterpillars waddling about as you know that was what my mother used as her winter weather prognosticators. You just may hear me lamenting of a blizzard come January! Time will only tell what old man Winter will have up his sleeve.
Who knows the answer…all I know is that I want to see, I need to see, a little sunshine—I want it to dry up the dampness, kill the mold and to help my feelings! So until then—and the weatherman is telling us that by the end of the week our temperatures should be more seasonal except that our chances of rain will continue…ugh…I hope you will enjoy this beautifully bright beaming red/orange (secondary color you know) rose! May it bring you a bit of cheer, happiness and joy as it did me when I took its picture.
Here’s to looking heavenward for the sun………….
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