Like You Didn’t See This Coming

It happens every year. Whine, whine, whine, gardening season is winding down, the winter is coming, we’re all going to die!!

I want so badly to be the sort of garden writer that composes eloquent, graceful pieces that encourage gardeners to appreciate the cooler seasons and respect the importance of the winter. The fact remains that I am a summer baby. While I understand and respect the seasons, I absolutely abhor the winter months and am full of anxiety as they approach. I spend much of the off season huddled up indoors counting the days until I can be outside in bare feet again. I would avoid going outdoors completely if I could. I am at my happiest when the sun is shining through the plants, the tomatoes are coming in, and I can run out into the garden to collect a few fresh herbs for dinner.

Wonderful smells. Warm soil. The cicadas in the trees. F-ck the winter and its all day five-oclock greyness, layering up like the Michelin Man just to take a walk around the block, and general malaise.

In lieu of my usual annual fall season meltdown, I thought I’d provide a recap of a few previous meltdowns. I’ll see you back here next month for the first snowfall of the season meltdown.

[Incidentally, I wrote the above and then went out to my garden to take a few pictures for the post. This colourful sedum was a good reminder that it’s not all bad.]

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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9 thoughts on “Like You Didn’t See This Coming

  1. I like the change of seasons. The fall gives me an opportunity to clean up my garden while being outdoors in beautiful weather with the gorgeous trees and their autumn leaves. The winter gives me the time to re-group and take a little break from all the gardening chores. And then I look forward to those first crocuses and the spring and the cycle starting all over again…

  2. Your musings are so much nicer without the f bombs. Guess I just prefer the beauty and bounty of gardening experiences.

    • “Not the best not the worst and occasionally I curse to get my point across.” – from Buggin’ Out by A Tribe Called Quest.

      I curse like a sailor but keep it to a minimum in my writing. While I do maintain some differences between the way I communicate verbally versus in casual situations versus the way that I write in casual situations, there are times when holding back is a lie. I don’t think I abuse it.

  3. Thank you so much for the gorgeous colors in blooms of that sedum in the lovely container. Great blend of “harvest” fall foliage and bright bloom color. Pics like these always make mevery happy particularly when the wintery “dry spell” is upon us. I even got happy seing pic of your colorful variety of tomatoes!
    Once the gray pall descends with cold temps I spend hours lost in blogs like yours finding joy in seeing celebration of warmer, more productive times!
    Thanks for being one of those people who provide so many a great place to find that lift when we need it.

  4. I also am incredibly anxious as fall approaches. It was once my favorite season- long, crisp, sunny falls. Now, living in Seattle, I approach them with dread and plenty of tears. I know it part of the cycle, it is necessary, blah, blah, blah…but I hate it. I hate the incessant gray skies and the never ending rain. Puddles, dampness, and mud. Blech.
    Wah.

    • I agree. I think you can understand and appreciate the changing seasons on an intellectual level but also hate it as a human being that has to endure the parts that… frankly suck.

  5. Sometimes you just have to say/write it how you feel and there is no other word for it. Thank you Gayla for being real. That is what I like about your blog the most.

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