I've been out planting mums and marigolds in the yard for some Autumn 
color. It is one of the joys of my Fall ritual to prepare the garden for 
the coming winter and spring.  I've cut back my Brown-eyed Susan's. 
However, the Butterfly bush and the Lavender are still providing the bees 
and butterflies with a supply of sweetness. Their time will in 
mid-October.

There have been a lot of bees this year. I am happy to seeing the variety 
of butterflies on their migration stopping in the yard.

Working in the yard gives me time to focus my mind on something other than 
the problems in life. I'm away from the TV and the media. I'm alone with 
the bugs, dirt and plants.  

I try to tend to my plants with some diligence. No, I am not a fanatic. 
The plants know what to do if you provide healthy soil, water, and 
sunlight. I attempt to keep them safe from harmful invaders.

Working in the yard also allows me to connect with the neighborhood a bit. 
I'm an introvert and tend not to involve myself with the neighbors. Some 
folk seem to need to know everything that's happening in your life. 

Neighbors are like family in that you're stuck with them due to 
circumstances. But, they are unlike the family in that you don't have a 
bond of shared genetic material. I was going to say; you don't have to 
love them as you would with family. But, there are families who out and 
out hate each other. 

I enjoy the neighbor who stops to talk about the plants. They may hate the 
way the rest of my house looks, but the flowers are pretty. On this point, 
we can agree. We talk and then go about our own business.

My Mom enjoyed working in her garden. It wasn't much of a yard. It was 
maybe a 10x10 plot of land. But, she had a lot of different flowering 
plants growing in there. 

Often, my Mom recruited me to help out. I enjoyed it.  Although I didn't 
always appreciate doing the work with my Mom as much as I should have. I 
think the idea of sticking my hands in manure or ox-blood dampened my 
enthusiasm. But, Mom told me what to do.  I did it. Things did look nice 
afterward.

Sadly, Mom and Dad are gone, and the house is now sold. I don't venture to 
the old neighborhood. Why should I? It was my parents who made that place 
home. The memories of the that place are safely locked in my head.

My parents were very good with their children, the 2 of us. They weren't 
perfect. We knew that they loved us and tried their best.

Dad was easygoing. Mom wasn't the same. When Mom wanted something, no 
matter how unreasonable, I had to do it. It was right, in retrospect. 
After all, I lived in her house.

Keeping with my Autumn reflections, working in the yard brings back these 
old memories. There would be pumpkin and apple pies baking in the kitchen. 
The family would take long rides out into the country to see the trees 
turning red and gold. Then we would go back to school and see the friends 
we hadn't seen since June.

After posting this, I'll go back out to lay down some peat and fertilizer 
for the coming spring. It's another ritual of my favorite time of the 
year.