This afternoon I cut the last of the lavender. At least, I think it will be the last. New buds and flowers continue to form. I cut the lemon verbena, stripped the leaves off the stems and placed them in a dish to dry. My hands smell of lemon and sunshine.
I want to read autumn poetry. Stanzas describing wind and rain and chill seem so inappropriate as our summer loiters on. I read a few lines and put the poem away for a time when the weather fits the words.
This stanza from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's The Autumn, is as close as I can come to finding something describing this early October.
Go, sit upon the
lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them --
The summer flowers depart --
Sit still -- as all transform'd to stone,
Except your musing heart.
The summer sun is growing fainter and the flowers departing, but ever so slowly. Only in the evenings and early mornings does it feel like autumn. It's as if we are caught in a lovely limbo of sunshine and warmth.
Tomorrow I'll be grocery shopping for our weekend of Thanksgiving feasting. We'll have our turkey on Sunday as per the tradition in my home. That leaves Monday gloriously free to relax and enjoy before work begins again on Tuesday.
What are your plans for the coming weekend?
Hands that smell of lemon and sunshine - now that's poetry, Lorrie!
ReplyDeleteI have been enjoying this wonderful sunshine too. On Sunday I picked enough blackberries for a pie - purple fingers and a head dizzy from that sweet smell.
What do you do with your dried lemon verbena leaves, Lorrie? Love the tree on the hill with accompanying poetry.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet post..I really love the big tree and sweet poetry..
ReplyDeleteHugs and sunshine xxx
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a restful holiday weekend! (after the cooking, I guess!)
ReplyDeleteThe scent from lemon verbena lasts for ages when it is dried, one of the best herbs to have in the garden, I think. I also grow lemon balm, another refreshing scent. The dried leaves go into pot pourri with the rose petals.
ReplyDeleteThe poetry and photo are a beautiful fit for this time of the year. Hope you have read the poetry of Mary Oliver. I love her older works. She has a new book out the 11th of this month, A Thousand Mornings.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I do hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!!
ReplyDeleteI think of Autumn and Spring as adolescents. Awkward, but with such promise. You can almost smell the hormones.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your Thanksgiving dinner...as you gather with family around the table.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading poetry to S before her naps and it's the summer verse resonates still. Love the lingering season.
ReplyDeleteWe have been promised much cooler weather for the weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed. I hope you have a glorious Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I have ever been this ready for autumn to waltz in, as I am now. Like you we seem to be teetering right on the cusp, but it may be a couple of more weeks.
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful weekend and Happy Thanksgiving!
I still have some Lavender in flower mid October which is surprising.
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