THE SEASONS

Moon over Durand August 27, 2012
photo~Jo Heroux

Don't know how it happens

Nor do I know if it matters at all

But this night of a full moon 

Brings me back, back before the fall.

The fall, falls
Leaves are all over the ground

They aren't bright, they aren't alive

They're just there.

It's not lovely, it's death all around.

Tho' the chill in the air brings me down

The shimmering light warms my soul

It's that ball of bright light 

Which fools me, if only tonight.

Still the darkness fills every pore

It seeps into my battling self

I can't keep it at bay

I can't fight it off anymore.

Fall is death for all things that I crave

My flowers, the trees and the grass

The pool is not open nor sparkling

My bones will stay chilled until May.

Closing eyes to remember my summer

Wrapping tighter inside my big robe

Seeing sunshine and blooms and the water

Getting through this is oh, such a bummer.

Winter comes and it goes and I live through it

I even smile at the first sign of snow

It cleans otherwise nasty browness

But I don't venture out to feel it.

Spring arrives and my heart feels lighter

I clean up and I plant and I putter

I open that pool with great vigor

Every cell of my being is brighter.

Waking to hot, humid days

My eyes are covered with shades

Coffee on the deck

Hummers feeding and chirping

I'm alive again, I feel again. 
The water glistens again

I am warm. I am happy. 
I am ME in Summer.

Jo

The Changing Leaves of Fall

This is, without question, my least favorite time of year.  Living in Michigan means fall can begin anytime from the middle of August or as late as the end of October. Doesn't matter to me when it starts, I dislike every single minute of it.  First it makes the trees all turn fiery bright beautiful colors which most people love to photograph and make long drives just to admire this natural splendor. 


I find it heart-wrenching to look at the fall colors.  

They are the signal that the leaves are dying and the trees are about to hibernate.  All of the beautiful flowers of summer, except my giant marigolds, are dying slow daily deaths.  Some will be back in the Spring and others are at the end of their life span.  

Everything dies in the fall.  



The pool has to be closed soon and I will be looking at the pool cover outside my kitchen window for the next 5 months.  No pretty blue water...no vacuum swimming around freely...no Jake jumping in to fetch his toy.  He will, however be running across the cover because he apparently likes the sound it makes.  I do not.


The air is cooler.  The sun shines less.  The grass stops growing. 


While I embrace change in general in my life, I do not embrace the changing seasons. I am a summer girl.  Solar powered. Energized by the heat and humidity.  Reaffirmed by floating or swimming around the pool.  Creatively inspired by the grilling on the deck and watching my carefully tended flowers bloom and grow.  Motivated by the morning cotd ritual (coffee on the deck).  

Fall leads to the cold dead winter. The holidays and birthdays of October, November and December keep me going and then we  hit January, February and March.  UGH   I begin to perk up as March ends because mid-April I will open the pool again. Spring isn't my favorite, but at least from there I can see the birthing of summer.  


So to all the football fans, all the cool weather fans...I say, "Please enjoy YOUR season.  Just don't ask me to enjoy it with you!  I'll be hibernating until the holidays."


That's it.  Fall sucks.


Jo