So tomorrow it's supposed to get cold? Or maybe Wednesday? Yes, according to my weather app, it's tomorrow that we go from highs in the 80s Farenheit, lows in the 50s, to highs in the 50s and lows in the 20s and 30s. If I want to bring flowers into the house, I'd better do it today. I had also better pick the last of the peppers, which are just about the only things left in the garden other than Brussels sprouts, which I think I can leave in the cold. They're supposed to have some kind of "natural antifreeze" that makes them sweeter. Maybe I'll cover the chard, which is just starting to come back a little after I picked it all down to nothing. I don't think it's really going to be cold enough to kill greens --- last year I had arugula until the big weird freeze around Christmas, when temperatures went down to something like 3, and chard is tougher than arugula. I have had kale overwinter tenaciously, even through multiple seasons, which makes me kind of sad that none of us likes kale all that much, even me.
At any rate, here, today, are the last of the flowers.
I should go out today and cut a lot of things back while it's still warm and the bees are active. When I do cut back the gardens, generally I just leave the cuttings on the beds as mulch and cover for hibernating pollinators, and it probably is better to do that before things go into hibernation, not after. I've made some headway already today on my work for the week, writing up thesis notes for my MFA student, and I hope to make progress on this poetry class I'm supposed to record week after next. And there are the eternal Sun essays. I think I might need to write three this week. But I should be able to take an hour today to go out and cut stuff down.
Anyway, it'll be nice to have cooler weather back again, with the possibility of layers. In the meantime . . .
Here we are again in default mode: teal Willow for a nineteenth consecutive day, with purple Birk Rosemeads because, once more, there they are. I went ahead and put on my green apron as a part of today's outfit, because I usually end up wearing it anyway, and because if I'm going outside to work in the garden, I want to have a protective layer over my dress. So far I've only washed it once, I think, and since I seem to be wearing it on repeat, I'd like to spare it any unnecessary stress. My Camellia held up well for a hundred straight days, but over time it's definitely begun to show signs of age. And as I've added dresses to my wardrobe, one of my main thoughts has been to wear them in rotation to extend their lifespans. In fact, that was the reason why I didn't think I wanted to do another challenge: if I was going to sink that much money into a dress, then I really wanted it to last longer than two years in good wearable condition. Thirty days, I don't think, will prove to be as tough on the fabric as a hundred days' wear was, but I am being a little more careful this time.
But here we are. Nineteen days in. Still giving myself an out --- I do not have to keep wearing this dress if I don't want to. But at this point, with eleven days to go, I am thinking, oh, why not? Just go for it.
I do continue to love the dress, which helps. The color makes me happy. The shape is easy to live with. I'd love to have the same dress in more colors (feeling very sad now that the garnet Willow is sold out in my size . . .), at least partly because it is so versatile. If they don't make a Willow in Iris Blue, a color I am hankering for, I've considered buying a second Wisteria Willow, but in the long length, and dyeing it a darker blue/purple.
Today's morning reading: "The Raised Voice of Poetry," by James Fenton. If, like me, you have no academic affiliation, you can register as an "independent researcher," using, say, your Google account, and read 100 articles for free every month, which let me tell you is the most generous paywall arrangement going.
But onward.
LATER:
I've worked on lots of stuff in rotation so far today --- thesis notes, essays, garden work. Dora has been following me around, and we've been out in the backyard, where I've let her sniff kibble out of the fallen leaves for a game. I haven't really been feeling a walk, which is lazy of me, but I think the month is cumulatively catching up with me. I need to work out, but just can't summon the energy. On the other hand, I have gotten things done, and have put on some potato soup to cook in the crockpot, so it's been a good day, with some hours still to go. I've also sent in my initial revision of the short-story manuscript, which was due November 1, with my headshots, which they wanted by sometime in January. So I am feeling positively diligent and ahead of the game on that front, though on other fronts I'm tapdancing like mad . . . and asking myself why I said yes to all these things. Heck if I know the answer, friends.