The seasons are shifting. You can see it in the quality of light and here in the high desert you can feel it in the mornings - the air is cool and fresh. In our hillside community the sun is slipping behind the mountains around 6 pm these days and soon it'll be 4 pm, then even 3 pm during the shortest days of the winter. I've had plenty of time to notice this the past few days as I've been pretty much housebound and cranky all week.
These photos are from outside San Diego but they are great late summer colors. They are the wild artichokes that grow on the hillsides where we walk the dogs when we're down visiting my mom and I love seeing these plants all seasons. They have big blooms that turn to fluff as the summer progresses.
Autumn has always been my favorite season although the last few years I have been so busy in the autumn, too busy to enjoy it. I'm not sure why that would be - and maybe I can prevent it from slipping by unappreciated this year. Maybe even get a couple of autumn leaf hikes in.
These are a type of buckwheat blossom (I think), and they are from the same hillside. The last time I was down visiting the heat broke, the fog rolled in and it was a great opportunity to get some good shots of these colors.
The plan is to be over at the resort at the end of the season - I've never yet made it there for closing and I'm sure it is a beautiful time to be up there. Its a beautiful time here too, and when JC gets home we have to make sure that we get out for some walks and not spend all our time doing whatever it is we seem to do that makes us so surprised when winter hits.
Portland is on my radar too. It'll be a different experience this year as I'm barely signed up for any classes - there just weren't many that I felt I wanted to spend the money on. I do have a letterpress class, though, and if I feel like I can swing it there is one other class with the same instructor I might take. I love just being in Portland and I love spending time with SF - her creativity never fails to inspire me.
This summer was a blur. I rode very little, not nearly as much as I would like. Smokin' never made it over to the resort. I'm struggling with what to do about Rhea and how to manage my fear of getting hurt again. Not one hike - how can that possibly be? We've made some changes, though, so there is hope for the fall and for next summer. I was too busy. Too many responsibilities in too many directions. We've narrowed the focus to the resort and home.
It always worries me to give up something - I'm one who thinks she has to keep all the balls in the air just in case. But life is so short and moving so fast that if I don't give up some of it I'll never get to enjoy the rest. These are uneasy times in the U.S. and you can't take anything for granted, but at the same time you can't live your whole life wondering when the bottom is going to drop out.
This week I've been surrounded by memories - maybe it was talking to people I haven't seen in years that brought it on, maybe it has been thinking about Chance and my decade with him... maybe it is just the change in the air. Maybe it was being so sick. I'm ready to dust off the cobwebs, though, and start moving forward again.
The past is okay to look back at with a fond glance - but what is done is done and there's no undoing it. I was who I was, I did the foolish things I did, and now I'm here. Moving on.
Towards autumn.
Towards a wedding, towards the next big adventure, towards another fork in the road!
To life and all its grand possibilities.
(If you read this post to the end - thanks for sticking with the rambling thoughts)
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