One would never guess it’s the end of summer when we are facing triple digit heat out here in California. We still have our Sonoma County cool heavy mist in the morning that drenches our deck and gives the redwood trees a pre-dawn drink before the sun burns through around noontime. Lovely summer coastal weather.
Everything in our yard is thriving. The vineyard is in high production; the suckers sprouting and the laterals reaching across the rows to hold hands while the bunches of grapes turn a beautiful purple. Future Koinonia Merlot on the vine! We’re checking sugar content and will harvest when it’s reached its peak.
Wildlife creates its challenges. The flock of wild turkeys has shown up, intent on a fruit diet. The whirling wind decorations haven’t scared them away. But “Turkeys!” sends Ranger out the door. Those big, gangly birds make an hilarious run for it; but realize quickly our German Shepherd can make it across the yard in 1.6 seconds. They quickly take flight.
The squirrel sits content at his picnic table, shelling and eating peanuts, while keeping a watchful eye on the young hawks in the willow out in the green space. Nighttime visitors ate some of our pears this year and are now gobbling apples. They leave a deposit on the fence line as a thank you. I’m still waiting for the owl to move into his penthouse with porch, but he seems content outside. They say one owl family can eat up to one thousand rodents in a year.
There is a lot of work to be done before fall arrives. The iris rhizomes need to be dug up, separated and replanted, the lilies of the Nile thinned. The redwoods have dropped their “duff”, a rain of rusty pine sprigs with every afternoon breeze. With a thick layer of redwood mulch already around the trees, I rake, pile, and wheel the over-abundance to the green waste cans. We now have two big ones and between me and the mow-blow-and-go guys, we fill both every week. It will take a truck to haul away the debris when time to prune the vineyard.
The mole came back this year. Wretched little cuss. He made an underground maze on our front lawn, pushing up a few mounds. We were advised by an expert to “disturb the mounds and stomp down the tunnels.” Our mole put up a public protest by pushing up twenty-two mounds over the next few weeks. No one else around had such signs of protest. Our neighbor set up two traps. The mole has now taken up residency in the neighbor’s yard. Eight mounds at last count, but I think his days are numbered.
Only a few weeks remain before the first day of Fall. The kids are off to school (finally!). The cornstalks are high, pumpkins orange and rounding nicely, Harvest Festival, Halloween and Christmas promotions popping up all over like our mole mounds. I’m in no hurry and plan to plant myself on a chaise lounge, thank God for this patch of earth to watch over and work, and soak up some rays in these last summer days.