Friday, September 21, 2007

Theme Week 4 - Truth or Consequences

1.) The seasons are changing, fall is upon us and winter is right around the corner. Most of the summer flowers are dead; I shake my head sorrowfully at the sight. The dead foliage is a nuisance. The weeds are reaching high in the overgrown garden as I spy the just visible pumpkin patch, the only good looking thing in here. I tie together some corn stalks and bring out some decorations to put next to the porch. I can’t wait to show Justin!


2.) It is autumn and I can feel the air changing which sends a small chill up my spine. I can smell the crispness that blows through the trees and clouds; I love this time of year. Most of the summer blooms have gone by and the job of collecting the dead foliage is at hand. I empty the various pots into the wheel barrel to be carried away to the compost pile. “Just not enough water,” I shake my head as I sorrowfully examine some pitiful looking Dahlia’s and sunflowers that are dried up and wilted. I am onto the garden next, struggling to pull up some of the weeds that are unruly and uncontrollable at this point. My patch of pumpkins did well this year; I found four beautiful little pumpkins tonight, perfect for carving. The corn stalks are taller than me as I wrestle them down to the ground so I can tie them together. They look very festive as I prop them up against the purple and red mums beside the porch. I place a pumpkin here and there to add some more color. I find a few Halloween decorations that I put out on the porch as well, a scare crow that sits in the ground, a witch flying on her broom and some ghostly candleholders. I feel good as I stand back and take in the scene, the decorations are so cute next to the pumpkins and flowers, I cannot wait to show Justin when he gets home. It’s funny how the smallest effort, like cleaning the yard and putting up Halloween decorations can make me so pleased. Happy Halloween!

3.) It is autumn and I can feel the cool wind that rushes upon my face and up my spine. The smell of the crisp air is intoxicating, I watch as the fallen leaves blow around the yard, the trees and clouds. It’s a whirlwind of colors; I love this time of year. The summer blooms have faded and fell off their stalks; I take away their remains and cart them off to the compost pile. “These ones are lovely,” I exclaim over the tall sunflowers and exquisite Dahlia’s that haven’t passed yet. I am onto the garden next, pulling out a few stray weeds here and there as I make my way to the pumpkin patch. I am very pleasantly surprised by the size of this year’s pumpkin. They are gigantic, Cinderella pumpkins that seem to have a mind of there own, sprawling out over the lawn, breaking free from the patch. I cannot even begin to lift them; they are too big to carve, “what will I do?” I figure, no need to worry about it now, I’ll leave that up to Justin. I effortlessly cut down some corn stalks and tie them together to put on display on the front lawn, along with the Halloween decorations. I put pumpkin lights on the porch with some witches and goblins hiding among the plants. Hanging from the trees are bats, ghosts and witches on brooms, and my favorite, a laughing skeleton that sits by the front steps. I feel very festive for the Halloween season, my yard does too!

1 comment:

johngoldfine said...

Hey Cleopatra--very enjoyable read, especially for someone struggling to clean up his garden. I particularly like the very drab and matter-of-fact version 1 contrasted to the over- the-top, Halloween-crazed version 3. It's fun to see the facts get progressively 'enhanced'--you do that very well.

But, uh, Halloween is five weeks off! YOu're not going to be putting up Xmas wreaths Nov. 1, are you? Or is the idea of Halloween decorations in September one of the exaggerations?