The air in the house cools down at night, with no thermostat kicking on to moderate change…

People often ask me how long my gardening season goes…

I stepped into the woodshed a little after dawn, to sample the air & examine the snowfall. Nothing scientific; just a gut measure…

It takes a long time to cut geranium stems with a hand tool, on a cold day, if the field of flowers is vast…

The new gardening client, situated somewhere between the Adirondacks & Mt. Mansfield, was more than generous…

The first snow is expected …

We decide to drive in, as far as we can.

On our hands & knees, we bid farewell to summer …

The color moves quickly, and most is gone now…

"Straighten her out", he yelled, so I yanked at the wheel, and watched in my mirror as the tailgate approached the deck, my dyslexic mind trying to flip things correctly, to avoid a crash…

I look longingly at the last danish in the case…

I pass the town garage, and coming around the last river bend before the road cuts sharply up into fields again, I see her…

I remembered the road well, because he'd grown up nearby, & had pointed out to me exactly each wooded ravine he & his brothers used to bushwhack & ski, almost killing themselves…

My little town …

He jockeyed his tractor bucket into position over the bed of my Chevy: an inch here, and inch there, with a precision undoubtedly born from having done it wrong enough times…

Despite a sunny forecast, we were rained out at 3 pm…

Some people have well-oiled machines …

Somehow, the late color is more poignant, causing an unexpected strike of longing, or melancholy…

It’s been a difficult week …

I worked my way around the edge of the driest bed, choosing sunlight, while other areas sat in thick dew, dripping, arrested still in damp conditions…