Sunday, November 11, 2007

Seasons

It's hard to comprehend, having just spent a few hours outside under an achingly clear blue sky, the sun on my shoulder, that yesterday it rained.
It poured. It rained cats and dogs and frogs and squirrels and ponies. There are dead earthworms all over the patio today, apparently having crawled from their flooded homes onto dry ground. But the sun got them today. They are worm jerky.
It rained so hard that Bean Sprout did not get his usual bedtime trip out to the lawn. He had to hold it all night. (He would have freaked out there anyway.)
And yet today, there are still purple blossoms on the eggplant bush; maybe it's not finished producing. There are still serranos on the pepper plant, dead-set against turning red-ripe, but that's fine.
The pears of summer are long gone, and the oranges of winter are turning... orange!
It's sunny and warm and breezy.
But yesterday we had the first rain of the season.
And the first fire in the fireplace.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here in Santa Barbara it just got cold weather for the first time last week. We got your rain today but by the time it got to us, it petered out to just a drizzle. It is welcome since we've been a tinder box for months but I wish we could have had worm drowning rain like you did.
That drink sure looks inviting in front of the fire place!
Salud!

cookiecrumb said...

Aw, thanks, Mimi.
I wish you a gully-washer. You need it.
Salud!

Zoomie said...

Love the picture - warm and comfy. It's true you can feel the fall nip in the air, even though the temperature isn't that different from one day to the next.

Catherine said...

great photo! it captures the feeling of this time of year. I'd forgotten all about the fireplace, but that does sound wonderfully cozy.

Monkey Wrangler said...

And you do mean first fire for y'all. So was it nice and toasty like you expected or are you furious with the previous owners?

I wish I even had a fireplace to complain about.....

Beccy said...

We've had a few fires this autumn, they're the only good thing about this time of year!

Anonymous said...

Poor Bean Sprout. Maybe you could get him a cute little raincoat and rain boots.

Ilva said...

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL PHOTO! (Note the capital letters!) XXX

Dagny said...

The rain caught me off guard. And I like Kathy's idea -- little rain boots for Bean Sprout.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

another cool pic. that really did sound wonderful. all of it. i'm telling you - the travesty here is we are so far away... i was meant to live in no. ca. i know i was...

worm jerky. i get that here too. i am so using that line...

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie: Yeah, and it seems to be cooling off a lot earlier in the evening. Well, the disappearance of the sun may have something to do with that!

Catherine: Thanks. The fireplace is in the room just off the patio, remember now? I think I'll be spending a lot of time there.

Mr. Wrangler: Yep! First time we used it. We've been worried, because the chimney needs some sort of cap... but it worked!

Beccy: I love them. I want to drag my bed in front of the fireplace.

KathyF: Hah! We *did* buy booties for Bean Sprout, but they were horribly designed so we chucked 'em. He also has a striped sweater and a down vest, the dapper kid.

Ilva: You are so sweet! Thank you. xoxo

Dagny: Cranky is an avid weather watcher, so we were ready for it.

Claudia: I believe you were meant to live here too. In Northern California we serve our worm jerky with white truffle oil.

Zoomie said...

Love the worm jerky and white truffle oil comment. You're too much!

Unknown said...

What is on the winter local menu? I await some postings about eggplant that may become, peppers finally ripened, and oranges turned orange.

meathenge said...

Oh, poo. My garden/weed nest is all over the map. I haven't been out there in several months. I feel kinda bad about it, especially for my neighbors. I try to trim back the things that crawl in to their side. I'm getting there.

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

Zoomie: Har, har, har! We are funny.

Lannae: There is a little bit of winter gardening going on, but nothing harvestable yet. I think it'll be a winter of beans and braises. Imagine some grated orange zest in a pork shank braise!

Rev. Biggles: We forced ourselves to keep loving the garden. Got 200 onions out there now, and a six-pack each of broccoli and cauliflower. Leeks and celery are still going. Didn't get the garlic into the ground, but it might not be too late.
I bet you could go out there on a nice day and yank it into shape; two hours, max. I'll help.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

This time of year, the turn of the seasons, are the best, winter to spring (for me) summer to autumm (for you), the planet is so busy!

peter said...

With all due respect, you guys don't know from nips in the air.

I'm working on a plan to load up a bunch of llamas with your oranges and lead them back to NY, fertilizing various organic farms as I go, selling hats (with earflaps) and sweaters along the way to fund the whole operation.

Also, fireplaces are totally carbon-belching indulgences. (If I had one I wouldn't care either.)

Susan from Food Blogga said...

That's a really lovely photo, Cookiecrumb.

Stacie said...

Oh how I miss those bay area fall days!! beeeutiful!