thoughts....about the farm, peaches, the weather...life

Thursday at Sauvie Island Farms.....just sitting here trying to sort thru my thoughts and decide what to post on the blog this morning.  The main purpose of the blog is to get information to all interested about what is ripe and ready to pick on the farm, however, a few times I have gone in a different direction.  The first time I posted a personal thought was when our daughter left for college in the fall of 2007.  In the next couple of days our youngest son will be leaving for college resulting in an 'empty nest' for the farmer and myself.  This looming event is perhaps one of the reasons for my scrambled thoughts this morning.  I started thinking about seasons this morning when I saw all the fallen leaves in our front lawn and felt the cool morning air.  Is it fall already?  Did we have a summer?  I think the sweet corn and  peaches are wondering the same thing.  I have always enjoyed the different seasons especially on the farm.  There is always something beautiful and refreshing about each one.  The stark beauty of the trees and empty fields in the winter, the fresh smells and tiny spots of green as new growth sprouts in the spring,  the warmth of the summer sun with new tastes as each variety of berry ripens, and then the cool, calm of fall as the orange pumpkins sit in the field waiting to be harvested.  This year, it feels different, the weather hasn't been 'normal'. Maybe I feel different because of the change of season in my family life, something just doesn't feel right.  It's getting cool at night and fall is coming too quickly this year.  We haven't had ripe sweet corn on the farm yet, we are still waiting for peaches to ripen..and is it really time for school to start? 

Life is full of change & life is not fair....two things I have tried to teach my kids.....so taking a lesson from that, it's time to move on.  NO, we do not have ripe peaches or sweet corn on the farm right now...but we DO have beautiful blueberries, chester blackberries, green beans, pickling cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, summer squash, slicing & lemon cucumbers, peas,....yes, peas in August....peppers, cabbage, and beautiful flowers. Hopefully next week we can open the orchard for Rosa and Hale Haven peaches and the sweet corn will be mature enough to pick.   Just as each season on the farm has its own beauty, so shall this time in our life.....