GoldenRod Years....

 When you are an agrarian, or live close to nature, time is not marked off on calendars, not seen on clock faces.

No.

Instead, they are found in the hallmarks of the world around you, wilderness worlds big and small. The migratory flights of geese, the colors of leaves, the types of plants, birds, and reptiles that make their appearance...or disappearance...

Such is the case of the Goldenrods. Around the NorthEast, the last hurrah of "flowerdom" is the Goldenrod, and just as Spring's wild weedy mistress seems to be Queen Anne's Lace, white and delicate,  the Goldenrod signals the last glorious bout of flashy yellow color before Wintertide hits.

This weekend, far away from the concrete city, the Goldenrod grew tall and amazing, a grand golden sea everywhere we went. I might have imagined it, but I'd never SEEN so much goldenrod dotting the hamlets and Villages of the upland countryside.

I've realized there is something wistful about the whole thing, watching this display. One more last flashy journey of something vibrant, before the long winding march toward the twilight of the seasons. Winter is a time of death and desolation, so one must watch the last breaths of Autumn with a sort of reverence. Life is like that too...each moment that we live, animated, we are slowly marching there, much as it all looks so alive, amazing.  I've thought about this more than usual lately; it does not help that this weekend marked another year pass'd for me, and I tip scales heavier toward elderliness, than not.

These things will manifest themselves in ways I can't fully predict, right now. While you are reading this, there are secret ideas that are coming to fruition, some of which I have shared, and some which might surprise you (and me)!  This weekend's vacation back at the Sparks's farm, is a weekend getaway, a birthday celebration, a wedding planning trip, and so much more. We are all celebrating life here, and attempting to finish our own personal "Life To Do" lists before the literal and figurative GoldenRod Years are over.

Some of the to do lists are small, perhaps even trivial, but important. I helped June Sparks (who might appear to be a mild mannered "farmer's wife" but truly she is secretly "Super Woman) harvest her beautiful organic garden before winter came:

...with the help of farm kitty Sarah.....

...who inspected our work....

Meanwhile, Herbie avoided the sun, amongst the tomato plants:

 The Sweetheart and I enjoyed a trip into Ithaca, the heart of Central New York. We returned back to the farmer's market that I visited on my first trip Upstate, and it did not disappoint. Once again, we were greeted by a kaleidescope of fresh food and amazing folk art and wares!

Lovely farmer fresh food...

Wonderful local woven baskets....

A potter's works...

We also saw this horse fellow once again....though this time, we got much more up-close-and-personal...

And we also found another farm animal-gone-metropolitan, this neon chicken!

Whilst the small city was beautiful, my favorite place was still atop one of the mountainside pastures on the Sparks property. We climbed that wild, ancient hill to the field in which the Sweetheart and I will be married. Here, one still feels small, and amazed at everything.  The goldenrod grows high here, triumphant in its final days.   Perhaps here, amongst nature, we will find our way past the GoldenRod years, begin again and find the next Spring...a whole new journey.

In any case, it is all whimsy and beauty......

Next: A birthday wish......