Friday, October 12, 2012

Tuck it in for Winter

I love October, when the fall colors spread through the mountainscape and we begin to tuck ourselves in for the Winter.  Today we got a thunder shower.  Early, before the first light, I heard the rumble of thunder, followed by a hard rainfall.  Flashes of light electrified the dawn.  I decide I must go outside to see what the final days of warm weather look like before the winter snowfall arrives later this month.
The rain storm over the Sandia Mountains to the west

One Seed Juniper lifts its boughs toward the rain

Pinon trees soaking up each drop of rain

These are the last days of glory for the Blanket Flowers

The Rock Moss bravely blooms just a few days more

The last of the tomatoes will have to be picked green in the next week or so...

...before a frost turns them black and inedible


Soon the cold white drifts of snow will fall on my backyard pathways...


...and the scrubby oaks lose their leaves.

My roses still bloom as if in defiance of the approaching season

Bright yellow and red marigolds thrive in this season

The Holly berries have turned bright red


The Texas Autumn Sage is at it's peak

Quan Yin offers quiet serenity to this garden soon to be covered in a shroud of whiteness


The water barrels are filled with precious fluid

The wild grasses sow their life-giving seed for next Spring

The scrubby forest and yucca landscape brace themselves for the harsh winter winds


The beautiful porch geraniums will soon be shuttered inside to protect them from the winter chill


Sunflowers offer their last smiling faces
















Trees burst forth
in yellow hue,
flower petals
drink in the dew.
'Tis the season
they call the "shoulder",
wedged between
hot and colder.
Look upon these flowers tender,
now get to work -
and tuck it in for winter!

2 comments:

  1. Beautifully done, Vicki. I'd like to explore your part of the southwest sometimes. It looks a lot more interesting than what we saw when we visited our sons family in Mesa...

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    1. Mesa is dry desert-y Arid-zona. New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment. No comparison. When you and Mrs. T come to New Mexico, you are welcome to stop at my place and enjoy a couple of days as my guests.

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