Mountain Season 2023
I thought about calling this blog post “Wilting Garden Season 2023” or maybe “Crispy Fried Garden Season 2023” but thought that might be less appealing to readers. Truly though, when I return home from vacation tomorrow, I expect to find most of the plants in my garden withered after multiple days hovering around 102-105 degrees while we were away. Gardening in the summer heat in Texas is no joke.
While the in-ground plants that receive consistent water will fare the best, the garden containers that receive the most sun will probably be fried to a crisp. I do plan to cut back the dried stems, add the mesh covers, maybe even sprinkle a few more seeds, and hope for a late summer comeback. For me, gardening is less about the end result and more about the experience of getting my hands in the dirt and trying to grow something no matter the weather. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to install drip irrigation for the container portion of the garden this fall to give them a better chance at surviving next year’s summer heat.
Native perennial plants that have adapted to living through our unbearable summers will usually bounce back after some rain or in the fall or spring when the temperatures are cooler. They are the anchors in the garden, whereas annuals tend to shine and fade. In the Floret Farms blog post last week, Erin Benzakein interviewed gardener Rachel Siegfried, author of The Cut Flower Sourcebook: Exceptional Perennials and Woody Plants for Cutting. I’m adding the book to my wishlist as I continue to experiment with a cottage garden style that includes native perennials.
While I was working out yesterday, my favorite instructor on Glo, Ridge Davis, mentioned at the beginning of the workout to think of a word to focus on throughout the workout. Vitality came to my mind and as the workout became more intense, I brought the word vitality to the front of my mind. It worked! I felt that extra bit of encouragement to keep going. Workouts are one way of giving my body what it needs to thrive. As I age, practicing healthy habits means that I am able to continue enjoying all the activities I love, even if it is at a slower pace than a decade ago.
Wellness is on my mind as I celebrate my birthday this week and find myself planted right between 40 and 50. I’ve noticed that my desire for simplicity has grown with every year of age. While I don’t find myself changed in any significant ways over the years, I notice that I get less wrapped up in overwhelming details of life and care more about the smaller and more simple moments. I’m less concerned about what people think of me. I’m able to say “no” more freely without the accompanying guilt of hurt feelings and by doing so, I place boundaries around my time (including time to rest). My forties have given me a feeling of being firmly rooted in who I am. I’m more confident in knowing what I need, speaking up about those needs, and knowing how to make space in my life for what helps me thrive.
Society tells us our 40s need to include some existential crisis, but I disagree. Instead, maybe our forties are the time we come home to ourselves and peel back some of the layers (most often imposed by societal expectations) that have been holding us back and asking too much of us.
To celebrate this year, I’m enjoying a picnic with my family, lounging near a lake, having time to read, and most importantly, having a relaxed state of mind. Noticing what makes me feel alive is what I want more of in my life, no matter how simple those moments may be.
If you need a good laugh, I suggest watching the Australian comedy Wellmania on Netflix which dives deeply into living life in your forties and beyond, and the irony of our obsession with wellness in a live-fast do it all culture.
If you’re a Saturday Night Live fan, you’ll understand this little gem of garden humor.
We’ve spent the past month in the mountains at our yearly vacation spot. Escaping to the mountains allows us more time to be active, explore nature, and slow the pace of life down. In this season’s video, I share photos of the beautiful flowers we spotted around town, mountain wildflowers, and wildlife that captured our attention. The snow melt created turquoise blue water that rushed by us on one of our hikes and had us entranced for an entire afternoon. We walked among wild irises in fields by a lake, toured local gardens and plant nurseries, visited my favorite bookshop and all our favorite coffee shops, listened to music, rode our bikes, and took our dog on a few hikes.
Mother Nature kept us on our toes this trip with a late spring, a faster-than-normal rushing river through town, and mountain weather that included sleet and 30-degree temperatures. Luckily, she also filled the last part of our trip with bright blue skies, fluttering aspen leaves, birdsong, the sounds of rushing water, and mild temperatures.
I’m taking a quick break for July, but I’ll be back on with a post called Adventure Season, where I’ll share our travel notes in mid-August after a late summer trip to Switzerland. I hope your gardens are doing better than mine and you’re enjoying your summer (or winter in the Southern Hemisphere). Enjoy this season’s video!
The music featured in the video is Meadow by Sebastian Winskog and Summer Rains by Colton Walls on Epidemic Sound.
WEEKEND READING
While I had planned to do more reading while in the mountains, I ended up spending more time exploring and only finished reading a few books (most of which I placed in the Little Free Library in the neighborhood where we’re staying). Luckily, I’ll have plenty of time to read while escaping the summer heat back home! I thought I’d share a few of the books on my list as inspiration for your summer reading.
Just finished: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (gorgeous writing with powerful metaphors and hits disturbingly close to home in our society right now)
“She (Bird’s mother) was always doing that, telling him (Bird) stories. Prying open cracks for magic to seep in, making the world a place of possibility.”
“But still nearly every shelf is missing one (a book), sometimes more. He (Bird) wonders who decided which books were too dangerous to keep, and who it was that had to hunt down and collect the condemned books. like an executioner, ferrying them to their doom.”
“How can you know, she says, if no one teaches you, and no one ever talks about it, and all the books about it are gone?”
“What he's (Bird’s father) afraid of (is) that one day someone will see Bird’s face and see an enemy.”
“One box in which to collect all their anger; one straw man to wear the hats of everything they feared.”
-a collection of quotations from Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Currently reading: The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes (a romance and magical realism story rolled into one that makes for a light summer read with magic-infused flowers guarded by the enchanting Estrada family)
“Measuring time by the life of flowers is a really beautiful way to exist.”
-J.C. Cervantes, author of The Enchanted Hacienda
Next up on my TBR: Yellowface by R. F. Kuang , Banyan Moon by Thao Thai , The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See, and Go as a River by Shelley Road.
A few great summer reading suggestions from Modern Mrs. Darcy book club: Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen, Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass, and Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell
SUMMER READS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
When Summer Comes: Exploring Nature in Our Warmest Season By Aimée M. Bissonette (author) and Erin Hourigan (Illustrator)
Forest Bath Right Down This Path by Lisa Robinson (author) and Khoa Le (illustrator)
What’s on your summer reading list? What does this season or season of life look like or feel like for you? Share in the comments below this post.
What’s my simple joy this season? Sitting beside a creek and listening to the water trickle (or rush past), traveling in a similar way to how we live daily life, sharing ice cream sandwiches under the shade of a tree in the park with my son, and the scent of honeysuckle flowers bringing back memories of childhood have all brought me joy this season.
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I read once that if there is something that you want to do, but you're not sure how to get there, just begin. Writing blog posts for 52 Seasons is a creative journey into the expressions that come from my heart: writing, photography, tending a garden, immersing myself in nature, reading stories from voices that need to be heard and sharing them with others, keeping a home, being an advocate and supporter of education, nature, basic human rights, and sharing resources with others.
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