Come on October

 

Come on October.  We can see a light at the end of this hot, dry, dusty, hellish summer.  Sure we know how to handle heat here; but whole moley, can we get a break?!  The smoke from the Signal Fire in LA is billowing over the Tehachapis and really gunking up the air.  Bad air and hotter than tamales heat brings most of us inside.  However, chores must be done outside.  They’re done in the early morning and they’re done fast.  While choring it up this morning, I noticed a little bit of fall.  It’s coming.  It’s coming.

Granny Smiths (espalier) are coming right along.  The water is courtesy the Kern River via my garden hose.  Yes, that’s the same river Merle Haggard said he would never swim again.  He’s from these parts.  These apples are grown adjacent to Merle Haggard Drive.

See the hose in the background?  Part of the chores is to once in awhile spray off the trees.  We haven’t had rain since…?

The Red Flame grapes are showing signs of exhaustion from the summer heat.  They did well.  I even was able to taste some fruit from this young vine that the birds missed.

The Cinderella pumpkins are still blooming and producing. 

The pumpkins continue to ripen.

Here’s the pumpkin I accidentally plucked a few weeks back.

There is hope that October is on its way.  That’s the only kind of hope I want to count on right now. - Amen