Autumnal Equinox

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Millions of Miles Away A Venus Duet

There are advantages to insomnia... such as catching up with blogs I love. So... too early this morning I enjoyed Suzie's post on her amazing renovation project in Italy... staying in that magical country heading north, I imagined myself sailing along with Woodland Fay on her watery entrance into Venice and find I cannot wait for her next post. A island in Greece called out to me just before dawn and I visited Oia Santorini and was swept away in Michael's shades of blue sea. I feel so thankful for these lovely people sharing their worlds and all of the incredible folks I have met this way. A special fondness for my Swedish garden colleagues, who have become part of most of my days. I started my blog (I just cannot get use to this word) ... my web journal about eight months ago... and could not have imagine... that in such a short time, I would connect with so many great gardeners... here in my country and out in the wider blue.

Blogging does take a good deal of time and I am happy for the exchange of habits that allows me to write and edit more photography... to share my world. I was once a news junkie... could not stop reading papers, from all over the world. I just had to know all the gruesome details... of injustice mostly... the world over. I gave that up, though stay in touch with my Representatives in Congress... concerning important issues. Then there was Facebook... it did not take me long to let go of that addiction too. I feel the hours I now spend organizing my thoughts and photos for my 'hopeful' book, and reaching out to the world through my land and the life upon it... is time well spent. So when I find myself wide awake, I stroll through my blog list and travel to other worlds... as I did this early morning.

Once I pulled myself out of the blue of Santorini's sea... I notice a few marvels in my own realm and watched the day push away the night light. A lovely predawn with touches of yellow ochre spreading across the sky caught my eye... but wait let me go back to around 3AM... still pitch black dark... Venus hangs like a diamond in the sky wearing a silver gown and is engaged in a duet... or so I like to imagine ... with Regulus (brightest star in Leo), who is all lit up in a suit of sequins. I am looking East... I am amazed at the sparkling colors of Regulus next to the silver light of Venus (both of course are atmospheric illusions and they are maybe trillions of miles away from each other). Dawn light soon erases their bodies from view... Regulus is the first to go. I think the wiggles my camera makes are fun (even with a tripod), and hope it is not just sleep deprivation making me think something idiotic is cool. In any case Venus is around 26 million miles from Earth... at its closest point and about 160 million miles away... at its most distant point*. Knowing that fact .... makes all of us here on Earth seem a bit closer! There is a soft thick blanket of fog settled in the valley ... adds a mystery to the Mount Holyoke Range and Mount Tom is up to its nose under the covers ... which is where I think I will go. Have a lovely Sunday. *Thanks to Curious About Astronomy a great site!

Blooming Friday

It is another September Blooming Friday... hosted by the very gracious Katarina ... to see other gardens in bloom go to Roses and Stuff. Here are a few blooms with a couple of birds ... one I think is a red-eyed vireo and the other I just do not know. Some of these photos were taken just after sunrise and others later, when the clinging, glistening rain and dew dripped away. The Tree hydrangea... paniculata 'Grandiflora' also known as Pee Gee... is still moving into deeper pink and quite a show for some time now. Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is scattered about the garden and is a great source of food for the wild honey bees and butterflies. Asters and Phlox are having their day as the Himalayan Balsam is going by and popping seeds the garden over. Little chipmunks seem to find them tasty, judging from their puffy cheeks ... I see them scurrying around behind the little studio gathering the fallen seeds. Cotinus or Smoke bush is lovely just after sunrise, when the blades of sun light up the dewy airy blossoms. Asparagus too... deserves a spot here... dressed in shimmering silky dew. Hope you have a lovely weekend!