The forecast is possible showers this afternoon and thunder showers tomorrow. I hauled the bucket of Preen and a watering can up to the circle garden beside the barn. The weed season has already begun wherever a minimal amount of water collects. I also spread the Preen over the far edge of the front slope beside the rock wall and watered it in. An early start to prevent a weed invasion may be, like weddings and funerals, the triumph of hope over experience.
Today I also began clearing the far edge of the back yard. The goal, similar to the western edge of the lawn, would be a short retaining wall and a warning track on the far side of the wall. I will have a professional clear the rest of the hill down from the proposed retaining wall, if for no better reason than to prevent the house from burning down in a firestorm next summer.
The line for cultivated beds would run from the edge of the fence to the retaining wall at the gazebo – approximately forty-five feet of thistle, grass and overgrown whatever. I cleared a significant area when I went in search of the missing crape myrtle last spring. Much thistle still remains to be dug out; the war on thistle never ends.
I had a grateful moment at the end of the day looking out the kitchen window. The reserve sunset backlit the trees that line the driveway. A true and unmistakable autumn light, the kind of low, soft golden light that happens when the earth tilts away from the sun. I will look again in the coming days, just before sunset.
A Year at the Snake 