Hot Days of Fall

I checked The NWS, it is 94 degrees here in Milwaukie today.  It feels just like that too.

Leaves are beginning to fall from the giant sweet gum tree in the front yard. They dry into a crackly tan color in the heat. I throw watermelon rinds to the neighbor's chickens, who hang out in our yard most of the day. They go at them with excited beaks, grateful for the moisture and the sugar.

I ride my bike today, along the neighborhood streets and along the Springwater bike trail. Biking in the heat is a great alternative to being in a car. I cannot overstate that fact. The hot wind like a fan against the skin, the open air. I feel young too, on a bike. It has the element of freedom, running up on the sidewalk, whipping through otherwise cumbersome intersections. So far the cars are quite kind. This makes me feel the universe is indeed a mostly benevolent place.

The garden grown tomatoes from my friend are so red, they look more like Christmas than the end of summer. I eat them like candy, they are so sweet.

My little rudbekia plant has the bright yellow flowers I look forward to all summer . The Common name for this flower is 'black-eyed susan".  Baby Kaitlyn loves black-eyed susans too. A neighbor near her house has a lovely garden at the sidewalk edge which is filled with them and hibiscus. Kaitlyn loves to look at this yard on our walks. If I stop in front of it, she just quietly stares, and I feel these flowers would hold her wavering baby attention for long minutes, much longer than a 'toy'. Next year she will be in my garden, helping me to pick zinnias, sunflowers, astors and veggies.

This gypsy has no yard of her own today, but next year, if the universe smiles, she will. She will love it all the more for the wanting.