“Obstacles don’t block the path. They are the path.”
Buddhist proverb
The rituals of fall are well under way here in the valley. The chimney has been cleaned and the kitchen wood stove taken apart and cleaned. And my least favourite part of that process, putting the cleaned pipes back together, went without a hitch. I had a friend here with me (who is older and no doubt smarter) when I put the pipes back together. Her observation was that the pipes only fight with you and don’t want to go back together when you are preoccupied with something negative. So I must be in a positive frame of mind this year.
Fall is, of course, the real new year. I allow myself a little reflection on the past year. But only a little. When the snow melted in the spring, there was still a huge mess of ash tops from the two ash trees that were cut last fall. They were victims of emerald ash borer. Another tree casualty was the prettiest of the old apple trees. It was done in by gypsy moth.
The ash trees provided a lot of firewood but I’m still getting used to the empty spaces where they stood. And aren’t we lucky that the experts were wrong and there was no smaller resurgence of gypsy moth this year?
My friend the Wind Chime Hater observed that there are very few cluster flies this year. I thought that this was too good to be true. But looking at my windows there is nary a fly in sight. I have always thought it was funny that all those magazines extolling the virtues of country life never mention that cluster flies are a bit of a blight on the rural idyll.
I am hopeful that there will be no ladybug swarming this year. It didn’t happen last year for the first time in several years. To have a winter without ladybugs dropping from the ceiling into whatever is for dinner will be a joy indeed.
The porch plants have been brought in for the winter. A lot of nonsense has been written, I think, about the fear of assorted bugs coming into the house when plants are brought in. I haven’t found the house overrun by bugs from the porch geraniums. Nicotines tend to have a few aphids on them but these don’t seem to spread to other plants. I can live with a few aphids when they stay put.
Finally, the beavers that have been doing major engineering projects for the past few years have finally moved on. They have exhausted the poplar close to creek so it’s time to go somewhere else and let it regenerate. Their paths have grown up with jewelweed and it’s obvious that the dam is no longer being maintained. It’s a huge relief to not worry about my cabin being flooded. There’s a good chance that the dam will wash out in the spring when the snow melts and I will be without a pond once again. The only thing constant is change.
I look forward to fall garden clean up and garlic planting. And maybe I can squeeze in a few more daffodils somewhere.
Happy fall everyone.
By Jill Williams
