We have already had two big snow storms here in this town; but for the past couple of days the weather gods are showing mercy. I am slowing down so that I can fully appreciate this short interlude of pleasantly warm days, before winter settles in for good. Most of the trees are bare of leaves now, making the blue sky look a little brighter.
I came here more than two years ago to be near my youngest daughter. She was employed here, but far from family and friends. A year ago, I had decided to move on, but she asked me to stay while she was deployed overseas. I have made the best of my situation. I tried to get involved in the community and to make a difference by teaching sustainable gardening methods; but then the pandemic hit and no one showed an interest. I was never sure if it was the fear that COVID brought about, or the closed minds of the local citizens that discouraged my efforts. I passed the time by making another garden (in a different place than the one I had made the previous year). I worked so hard and perhaps it was futile, but I am a gardener – I cannot NOT garden! Not being able to garden is a near death experience for me and the years that I was unable to, are too painful to remember.
The year that I have spent here has given me time to pause and to become clear about where I am headed. I have never liked the climate here – especially the wind – so I know that staying would only accelerate the end of my life. Gardening in this zone 5a for only 3 ½ to 4 months out of the year, doesn’t cut it for me. I have a renewed sense of purpose now and my intention is to move to a zone 7b, where I can once again have forests around me and listen to the blessed rain. I am determined at long last, to have a greenhouse, as well. I have managed to survive since my divorce nine years ago. But, like the plants that hold on as long as possible through the autumn, pushing out a few remaining blooms in their farewell to summer; I hope to thrive, in the Indian summer of my life, for a little while longer.
