Monday, September 1, 2014

Phlox First - Then, Mum's The Word

So, you think it’s still Summer, do ya? Sure, the calendar tells us September 22nd is the first day of fall. Nonsense. All New Yorkers know that this simply isn’t so. Summer is over, even though today we'll hit a sunny, mid-eighties temp. It’s Fall. How do we know?

It’s September 1st. This month doesn’t say, “Summer.”

It’s Labor Day, for sure. We’re watching the US Open - John McEnroe is in our living room, commentating to his heart’s content.

We closed the pool. Yesterday. It was overcast and gloomy. Why wait for exactly Labor Day or “...a few days, maybe, till the weather gets cold.” A rhetorical question.

A few yellow leaves have already fallen on the pool’s debris-catching net, to be removed when all the trees are bare. Ugh. What a thought. Bare trees. Hopefully, we've a couple months on that front.

We cleaned pool gardens of wilted perennial debris, but not the abundance of still-bloomin' hydrangea, morning glories, daisies, day lilies roses and you get the gist. Another season gone by. And it began...

...that is, my loooong nails are snapping off, one at a time, in anticipation of cold weather to come. I guess they figure, “Why wait?”

The kids start school on Thursday, much to their chagrin. Even they opine that summer has flown by way too quickly. Doesn’t it always?

It’s pitch black outside at 5:30 a.m. Poor kids. They’ll feel like they’re awakening in the middle of the night. Additionally, it’s turned hotter and steamier than it’s been all summer. Uncomfortable classrooms are on the horizon.

Tomatoes!! ‘Tis their season. It’s time to indulge, Friends. Juicy, red beefsteaks are the last hoorah of summer. And nearby in farm stands everywhere... 

...are colorful mums. Soon, corn stalks and pumpkins shall join them. Fall decor. Gotta love it.

Happy September 1st, Labor Day ’14 - the unofficial beginning of Fall. Mum photos to come.