Cold Weather Plans and Putting the Gardens to Sleep
I am working with the designer of my website to be able to answer people’s comments to my blog posts once I can read them. At the moment, I can neither read comments nor, obviously, respond.I completely rewrote an earlier story this week, essentially updating it and cutting it by half. My assistant Melenie and I dug through the incredible mess in my office and got rid of lots of papers – some to the University of Michigan, which has bought my papers and archives them, and some to the dump. The cats are very happy to have some floor space cleared. The desk actually has some empty couple of places.Thanksgiving was lovely with friends. I made the desserts. All the food was incredibly good and the company was great. Woody has plowed all the gardens now. Today he put away the lawn furniture for the winter and we mulched our three tree peonies and the rhubarb patch. I dug acidenthera bulbs, cannas and calla lilies to store them away till next year when the danger of frost has passed. Today was sunny and in the low fifties but a cold wave is coming in tonight. Woody is right now mulching the parsnips and leeks. I dug a bunch of leeks to make leek and potato soup for supper with a salad – one of our last of the season – and bread. I’ll make a double soup and freeze half of it. Leek and potato is one of my favorite soups. This is surely the season for soup. Sunday night I think we’ll have Portuguese kale soup. I was one of the founders of Cape Cod Women’s Liberation when I moved here from New York City, and in one of my groups, an older women of Portuguese descent made that soup for one of our meetings. I loved it and she gave me the recipe and I’ve been making it in the fall ever since. We grow a fair amount of kale.Watching and waiting to see if Obama will fight the Republicans this term. Watching and waiting to see how much that helps us the Republicans are able to destroy and how obdurate they will be to protect the 1% from paying taxes. Living here in Wellfleet, we often feel we are thoroughly different from the rest of the country, but this election taught me, not so very different from the majority. Not just the reelection of Obama and the election of at least a few more women and minorities but the social issues that passed changed my opinion.Next week two of my cats go into the vet for their rabies shots and their annual exams, Efi the Siamese and Mingus, the younger Burmese. They will not enjoy that. I also want to get into Boston next week to do some food buying of stuff we can’t get here and some gifts. On Friday the 21st of December, we’ll hold our annual solstice party. It’s not as big as the summer party by half. For one thing, it’s in the house. Our house is not that big. There will be lots of food and drink and friends. Last year it began to snow just as guests were leaving. It wasn’t much of a snow, but pretty – huge flakes drifting down slowly, languidly. I am wondering when we’ll get our first storm this year. It’s usually around the solstice here. Meteorologists are saying this will be a colder and more stormy winter. Why are they called meteorologists, as if they studied meteors? Weird.Didn’t see the Leonids this year –it was cloudy. On the dark of the moon, the tides were huge.The next six weeks are always very social here. A number of people we know go off to warmer climes in cold weather, and although two of our best friends leave for Puerto Rico next week, most people don’t go for the winter, just a vacation of two weeks to a month, often in February. We stay here unless paid to go somewhere. We stay here and work and enjoy a respite from the garden until we are eager to get back into it in March.