August

The daylight hours are beginning to shorten, school has started and even though the temperature is still hovering around 100, I can tell fall is on the way. I have to admit, I am looking forward to cooler mornings, colorful leaves, and mowing grass less frequently but I do NOT like less sunlight. I know why God placed me in the south and not in Alaska. I could not survive 6 months of darkness! We are still in drought conditions and under a burn ban on the swamp. It is a struggle just to keep things alive until rain falls again. The dry weather and excessive heat are just too much for many of the annuals I planted with such hope and promise last spring. Oh well, as the Teacher says, "to everything there is a season," and this is the season of pitiful petunias, sad begonias and droopy hydrangeas.
The only thing that is thriving without too much effort is the portulaca I planted in the "expanded" round bed resulting from the Mother's day gift. I counted on it to spread fast and bloom extensively and it did not disappoint. The only problem with portulaca-- it only blooms in the morning. Just can't have it all.
With so much going on in the world, high gas prices, terrorist red alert, war in the middle east, drought at home and the list goes on, it's always a comfort to know some things stay the same such as the seasons. Even though I don't like shorter daylight days, I do like fall and winter and spring and summer and look forward to each season as it comes. As for all the bad news of today, once again as the Teacher says, "there is nothing new under the sun." Nothing is a surprise to God and that my friends is the greatest comfort of all!