saying goodbye to October

October's Bright Blue Weather

O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,

And flowers of June together,

Ye cannot rival for one hour

October's bright blue weather;
When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,

Belated, thriftless vagrant,

And Golden-Rod is dying fast,

And lanes with grapes are fragrant;
When Gentians roll their fringes tight

To save them for the morning,

And chestnuts fall from satin burrs

Without a sound of warning;
When on the ground red apples lie

In piles like jewels shining,

And redder still on old stone walls

Are leaves of woodbine twining;
When all the lovely wayside things

Their white-winged seeds are sowing,

And in the fields, still green and fair,

Late aftermaths are growing;
When springs run low, and on the brooks,

In idle golden freighting,

Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush

Of woods, for winter waiting;
When comrades seek sweet country haunts,

By twos and twos together,

And count like misers, hour by hour,

October's bright blue weather.
O suns and skies and flowers of June,

Count all your boasts together,

Love loveth best of all the year

October's bright blue weather.

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

This post was inspired by my 6th grade teacher Sister Eleanor, who thought it was important that children learn to memorize poems. This is one that has always stuck with me. This picture - and the amazing blue skies we've had lately, makes me think of that poem. I'm not sure what kind of tree is in the picture above- and it is actually in my neighbors yard, but hangs over the fence into mine. In the fall the leaves turn yellow and fall and the structure of the branches beneath is stunning. Watch for them in a later post. If you look close you can see a faint daytime moon in the picture too.

October obsessions continued...

The olives have begun to ripen and fall from the big old Olive tree, that stands just outside my front door. I think the branches are beautiful, waving in the morning sunlight below, but I could do without squashed olives all over the ground.

Click on this next picture to see a bee in mid flight- deciding which of the little Queens Wreath (Pink Coral) flowers to land on next.

I never tire of the dahlias and the fascinating way they open their petals one by one.

The drama between passion vine, butterfly and caterpillar outside my office window continues. Here is a winner on the caterpillar side.

I initially planted the passion vines near the bird feeder, thinking that the birds would be a natural solution to the caterpillar problem. I then read that this type of caterpillar is actually toxic, and the bright colors let the birds know as much. I was sure surprised to see this bird who eariler had been perched on the vine, quickly snapping up every little caterpillar in sight...sure hope she knows what she is doing. I can't say I wasn't happy to have some help keeping them in check though.

A Lavender Lady Passion flower in the morning sun.

And more buds marching across the vine.

The Cape Honeysuckle has grown wild over the summer and probably needs to be trimmed. The flowers are so pretty though, I've been ignoring the chore, and have just enjoyed the wildness.

October is really a beautiful time in Tucson and I've tried to spend as much time outdoors as I can. I'm starting to look ahead to winter though, and make plans for protecting my potted cactus, on those really cold nights when it can hit freezing. I also need to check on which native plants need pruning in the fall/winter as I missed doing that for a couple of mine last year. I wish there were twice as many hours in each day!