We're smothered, coughing, eyes burning, headaches, but also occasionally delighted by the effects of the colorful filters from the smokey skies due to the wildfires crisscrossing BC. It's difficult to breathe, the air smells like the remnants of a doused campfire which is less than pleasant, but it's leaving our skies tinged with the occasional bleeding coral tone that stains the full moon at night.
"despite it all, we've been delighted by the colorful filters from the smokey skies"
Viewed through the closed windows in the darkening evenings the golden tones make the moon feel like a ripe apricot, close enough to be plucked, it's juicy beauty ready to be bit into.
As the garden moves forward into the last of the summer season it's changing, evolving, and fitting into the smoke with a solid grace that only flowers can achieve.
It can be surprisingly warm some days, and others so cool, that's helping to ripen the harvest, setting seeds, and sending up fresh flushes of flowers even while the nights cool down.
Late summer in the Okanagan is magical, with produce available from our local farm stands making up for any lackings in the garden. The time to sow a second crop of veggies is over.
[I missed it...again, it's always too hot to do anything at that time]
But we're still reaping our harvest from earlier plantings. The beans are producing at a alarming rate, the zucchini is determined to grow from one end to the other in the raised bed.
Why is it that the first and last harvests are the best? Anything in between is bug eaten, puny, and difficult to coax along, but at the end of summer, it's amazing. It's as if the plants know that their time is near and they are pushing every last ounce of energy into producing perfection.
A few of the leaves have started to let go from the tall trees in the yard, beginning the symphony of musical movement that nature conducts. The dry winds are blowing them around with small forceful gusts, and spreading smoke into every crevice of the house.
There is no escaping the smell, but the beauty outside in the garden glows in this light.
Jen @ Rural
Jen @ Rural
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