This past Saturday I prayed for good sales as they have been petty the past couple of farmers’ markets. No one is in the mood to see another plant die in this summer heat. So we focused on indoor plants, and the people loved our jades! Answered prayer. We had littler jade plants in small terra cottas or vintage pots.
And then we had trees … have you ever had a jade plant bloom? Please tell me about it!
I felt a whisper of refreshing air last night while in the screen house repotting succulents into darling little vintage pots … maybe? Early today I stood by the opened patio door to hear the morning greetings of our feathered friends, and I felt the air change. Yes, autumn is around the corner! Every year for over 40 years, I have said those words “I felt the air change today”. I grew up watching the weather and hearing about it from my farmer father. He would read the Farmer’s Almanac, have a weather ban radio playing in his office every morning, evening, and on occasions of severe weather threats. Mostly I remember the feeling when a shift in air direction and the front would roll in with clouds and sometimes rain with it. And then the refreshing change. Awe! Autumn in 4 – 6 weeks, and saying goodbye to sizzling summer. My oldest daughter remembers these words well, too. Rachel wrote a poem about these words, her mother saying them, and autumn. And we chatted today about those words …
The woods begin to vibrate with gathering and preparation.
The sounds so crisp, electric.
Her words were “I felt the air change today.”
Red, orange, yellow, green, brown.
They dance while falling.
A choreographed waltz.
Every year she said “I felt the air change today.”
Beautiful, breathtaking, loyal.
The Canvas.
I think I felt the air change today.
This summer our fiddle leaf fig trees have shown much growth being outdoors under our shade trees with this Missouri humidity. Their leaves are bright green and shiny when they first leaf out. Our biggest one will not fit inside the greenhouse structure any longer. Its tap-root was pulled from the grounds of the greenhouse’s original site in May, and has grown another 3 feet since. It is the companion to one of our maple trees in the backyard. We will repot the “jolly green giant” and look for a buyer with a cathedral ceiling as it will not survive Missouri’s winter. I have grown to love our overabundance green foliage in the front and backyards. Wishing I lived at Hilton Head Island, SC or Savannah, GA where our plants would have a chance outdoors year round. But then again, I love Missouri’s autumn colors and spring’s growth and renewal from the frozen earth. Missouri has the four seasons, some shorter than others. This year, it has been a long summer. The day will come any time soon when I can say “I felt the air change today” in anticipation of autumn. More on that in another post … 
The rains came twice over the weekend! It was like a miracle! And with it came cooler air, more like normal summer temps, low 90’s. We loaded our plants into the van in the wee hours Saturday morning, to make it to the Lake Saint Louis Farmer’s Market. It was storming, but I kept at it in my rain poncho and Dean with his hat. Our plants seemed happier, as well as their gardeners! Later, I trimmed sun-scorched branches from some ferns, and moved them to more shade under the dogwood tree. Sunday we repotted plants. Our tropicals are gigantic, growing as long as they have water in their roots. They thrive in this humidity. Dean & I met at the front porch on several occasions this weekend. We watched the storms come in and shared porch meals. The green ambiance allows conversation to flow. The electronic devices in the house don’t have that skill! Our hearts mesh when surrounded with nature. Whether camping, walking in the woods, and sitting on our porch bench with lovely greenery and birdhouses surround, life is simpler with plants and birds. At least, most of the time! 
“Time, you left me standing there
Like a tree growing all alone
The wind just stripped me bare
Stripped me bare
Time, the past has come and gone, gone
The future’s far away
An hour only lasts for one second, one second
Time without courage, time without fear
Is just wasted, wasted, wasted time
Oh, oh, oh, ooh ooh ooh
Time, why you punish me?”
These lyrics from Hootie and the Blowfish’s song “Time” keep playing in my mind tonight. This post is continuation of my thoughts in my last post written 5 hours ago. I cried when I walked upon that boat dock at Island Lake last week. I felt my father’s spirit with me, though in body he could not be there with me. Valhalla was Dad’s favorite place to do his favorite thing, fish. Such an appropriate name. “Valhalla” is the Viking’s heaven after he dies from warfare. My father has been fighting such a battle. Dad’s days are running short. He is dying of brain cancer, and I keep thinking about his life. Dean & I visited his father, my 96-year old grandfather last evening. Grandpa Earl tells us stories of his childhood and my father’s childhood. Yet he is cognitive enough to ask about his oldest son, my father. A copy of a photo arrived in the mail today from my cousin. A 1945 family portrait of my Grandpa Earl, Grandma Anna, Dad, and Uncle Earl. Mom called this evening on the way home from work. A hospital bed is being delivered to their Bowling Green home. Yes, the bed my father will be in when he passes from this life. God, I am so thankful for my father, Martin Kenneth Bates. He has been strength to this family for many years. And now we are his strength. He will be with You soon. And I will miss him greatly. I do not want pain for him, just Your peace, comfort, and rest.
This record breaking summer heat and drought is making for miserable working conditions for Missouri farmers. Dean & I are a part of the local agriculture scene, though we farm more for organic promotion, recreation, and creation purposes. For the farmer who is required to be outdoors all day and everyday, it is disheartening to see your crops dry up and wither in the sun. My friends at EarthDance Farms as well as all the local farmers cannot seed any more carrots, beets, and beans for a fall crop because the earth is rock hard, and the seeds cannot germinate without rain. I miss my favorites: purple haze carrot, candy cane beets, and tender bush green beans! Please pray for rains, several rains for Missouri and our neighboring midwest states. We need God’s divine intervention.
Deanna Greens and Garden Art’s tropicals and houseplants such as bird of paradise, hibuscus, banana trees, spider plants, red leaf philodenrens, arrowheads, rabbit foot ferns, and asparagus ferns love this heat and humidty as long as they are under our shade trees during the day and have plenty of water. We water everything twice a day when it is over 100 degrees, which means almost everyday for the past 6 weeks! Our oldest daughter took care of the plants, cats, and house while we vacationed in cooler Minnesota. We were so thankful for a much needed break! Now onward to the Saturday markets and the rebuild of our greenhouse.
“For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed,” Khalil Gibran shares with us. It was a “little things day” yesterday. I awoke early Sunday morning as usual, even after 3 of my grandkids’ slumber party continued well past my bedtime Saturday night, which needs to be at 9:00pm! After perusing the yard, taking in the morning sunlight, I returned to my kitchen to cook eggs, sausage, and toast before the little ones and my exhausted husband awoke. He was up late working on the jeep, trying to take apart the layers to access any engine damage. It looks like it is “fatal” as Dean says. Shopping for a new engine now, or a new vehicle. I let my husband work on those details while I played and relaxed with the grandkids. We watered the plants and played with the hose a bit. Frisbee and the neighbors’ dogs filled up the rest of the morning. After our afternoon nap and quiet time I feel refreshed. We watched a hummingbird visit the canna blossom. We played with a bouncy ball, colored, and watched a movie. I showed my granddaughters how to propogate cuttings of wandering jew and swedish ivy. The slower pace of the children quieted my spirit, even in the chasing after my 2-year old grandson. “The dew of little things …” 
St. Louis, Missouri and surrounding areas have encountered 10 days in a row of record high temperatures, triple digits with no or trace rain for almost a month. The corn is turning gray and rustles with the wind like fall leaves. We have had to water our plants 2 times a day during the drought. God, the plants need rain! Nothing beats real rain water! It finally brewed up yesterday, some places more so than others. We marketed at the Chandler Hill Vineyards Farmers’ Market yesterday afternoon, watching the clouds turn to thunderheads and shift different directions. Wind gusts would sway the tents one direction and switch in another minute. Maybe movement for the better? On our trip home we left the storm further behind us. Awesome views while in the wine country hills of Defiance. But yesterday evening finally my hometown St. Peters received 1/4 – 1/2″ of rain with the summer storm. My cats even seemed curious about that rumbling outside. We had not heard this in weeks. Hallelujah, our rain buckets are full now! Our plants are saying “aaahhh!” Another summer storm is brewing up this afternoon. Maybe more rain?!
The ambiance and local menu tonight was colorful. My huge kitchen is decorated with vases of our cut flowers and the fireplace mantle is overcome by beautiful blue hydrangeas from my parents’ yard. Dean & I’s dinner plates were filled with roasted spring root veggies and beef farm fresh by friends who allow their cattle to graze in their farm’s natural pastureland. I sit on my patio listening to the evening chatter of the birds and crickets until the summer night sky is dotted with fire flies. I needed some beauty in my life today.
My feline companions bat at the moth and June bug on the patio screen hoping to get a hold of them. Celine and Lily will need to stay inside as the neighborhood Great Horned owl visits our tall backyard maple tree some evenings. This may be one of those evenings. We protect our animals from harm with barriers like screen doors. Maybe similar to how our God sets up boundaries for us. I take in the beauty of our green friends, the plants we care for everyday. Tonight I will not water or trim or plant. I will sit and enjoy the greenery. They endured the sudden hail storm yesterday. Our elephant ear , banana trees, and birds of paradise have ripped leaves now. These plants will come through after some shedding. Is not life like that? We get hammered by hard blows, unwarrantly and needlessly. Yet, we rise again to be ourselves, probably better people for it if we allow. Thank you God for the beauty my eyes behold tonight, and the reminder that the heart heals.
Summer time is here! It is the Memorial Day holiday weekend, and the forecast promises sunhat weather. High 90’s, sunny, & humid, and we are moving our greenhouse! My prayers were for no storms and lightening, but I was not specific about my temperature request. 90% of our plants are moved. Tonight we have more hanging pots to cart to their temporary residence, our backyard! Our neighbors probably think we have flipped or saying “Dean & Anna are flower children for sure!” My grandson exclaimed, “It’s a jungle out there!” I keep wanting to get beyond this move, dreaming of a slower pace, less plants, and more time to care for them. It will come!
