Turn, Turn, Turn

The seasons are changing. Bye-bye heat wave; hello cool weather and changing leaves. We had our first snow a couple of days ago and a hard freeze for two nights. Last year, I was out-of-town when this happened. I left with a beautiful, vibrant garden (see “Work in Progress”); I came back to several inches of snow and frozen tomatoes.  This year, I was determined not to let that happen again. So when I got home from work and an after-work appointment, I went outside with a flashlight as the thermometer hit freezing, harvesting my vegetables.

When I looked over what I picked in the dark, I had a bell pepper and Japanese eggplant that are ready to eat. I found some black beauty eggplants that weren’t ripe enough, and it was too late now to grow more. I’d not grown them here before, because I’d heard the growing season was too short here. What I heard was apparently correct, so next year, I’ll stick with Japanese eggplant. I harvested some peppers that were so hot that my eyes and lungs burned, just washing them. I found a co-worker that loves hot peppers and I’m giving them to him.

A couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to find out that I’d let some Japanese eggplants grow a little too long. I hadn’t seen them, hiding deep under the leaves. I picked them, although they weren’t purple anymore; one was white and another yellow. I didn’t know if they were still okay to eat or not. We enjoyed eating perfectly ripe tomatoes and squash.

So as I reflect on the seeds I planted early this year, I’m thinking about which projects were “picked”

too early. Do I need to continue learning about some things that I thought I’d mastered? Like the Japanese eggplant, which projects or pastimes no longer serve me, and need to step back and move on? Which ones are doing just fine? The grape vines took off like wildfire this year, but they won’t yield fruit until next year.  Do I have some long-term projects that will continue into next year? Is it a project that will reap benefits for many years to come? Is there a project like the peppers — it all works, but it isn’t right for me?

It’s time for me to reflect on the projects I’m juggling. I started a new one earlier this year, as discussed in “Bring it On” Have I mastered it to perfection like the squash? Does it need more work like the black beauties? I don’t think it

is long-term, but where am I in the short term? I need to examine several of my pastimes and projects to decide what needs more work, what’s done, and what isn’t right for me.

What about your life? Is it time to reevaluate your projects, and decide what’s ready to harvest, and what’s ready to give up? Here’s a song to reflect these changing seasons. I can’t fight it; I might as well learn to deal with grace.

Ha! I finally figured out how to get the embedded video to work! Here’s music to match the post.