(morning writing, sky, weather, garden, perpetual calendar)

[elainegrey]

The past few mornings have been clear when i went out with starry, starry skies. And it's quiet: the temperatures have changed. I think this was the first morning when even waiting and focusing imy listening, i didn't hear frogs or insects, even from over the crest of the hill and the creek behind our house. It may be that i just know from the map that it's there, but i feel i can hear the sounds from that direction in the spring and fall when the sounds directly around the house have quieted.

It dropped to the freezing point at 6:42 AM, per the new sensor sitting in the front yard. It's clear there, and should get the coldest and hottest temps. It's also in a sleeve of plastic louvers, so that it can be in a sunny area and still report air temperature. I think i need to replace the sensor at the back fence: it reported temperatures in the 50s (F) for too long. And even though the woods makes its own climate, the trees are not that insulating. First, i thought it was that the battery was dying (and eventually the sensor stopped transmitting), but i replaced it yesterday. I don't know how far back in time i am going to have to distrust its readings.

I've been cranky about the autumn, a sign of the mild depression. I think i'm beginning to appreciate the color in the trees, even though there isn't bright shouts of clear color. The dogwood i can see from my office window and the front porch is such a dull garnet that i have muttered to myself about its mournful aspect. But walking up the drive this weekend, the sun through the leaves was resplendent. And while most of the trees around our home -- other than the persistent pines -- sort of drain the lushness from the green, leaving a dull yellowing green, this weekend the light in the woods (again, backlit leaves!) was a golden color. Maybe color change is on its way.

I still have three persimmons on the persimmon tree: i did not loose them to critters or humidity despite the stilt grass encircling the tree. I think one chestnut cluster is gone (squirrels?) but one is still high in the tree.

I keep trying to catch my negative thoughts and turn them. Particularly my frustration at not getting as much stilt grass out before it's gone to seed. I am making progress on ecosystem restoration here though: it's going to be OK.

So, now i can just focus on getting the sweet gums that shade the solar panels removed. (Oh, the species tree is not so colorful as the brilliant liquidambar street trees in Mountain View, CA) The black cherries have already lost their leaves, so they can stay. And i can look forward to picking out and planting some colorful shorter shade trees, like sourwood. Maybe some fringe trees (which have drupes that can be cured like olives).

Comments

[amaebi]

May autumn and winter work on and in you as times for gathering power and strength, as they do for so many of our fellow-creatures.

[liveonearth]

I followed you here after seeing your comment on LJ. I post rarely and have not made a clear decision about where those posts should go. Perhaps I should commit to dreamwidth and let LJ go? I know, it's an old question.

Anyway it's nice to see that you're writing with regularity and enjoying the natural world. Grasses are so hard to eliminate...go easy, indeed!

When you say liquidambar street trees do you mean sycamores? That Latin name has always been a favorite.

I also have mild depression and have come to the conclusion that it is constitutional. All the women on my mother's side of the family are on SSRI's. All the men are dead. Being the oddball who doesn't have an optimism bias is not really pathological: the human world is going to shit, and pretending it isn't nauseates me.

[elainegrey]

Sycamore! That has become the most frustrating tree name for me. It's what my Dad called liquidambar or sweet gum when i was growing up. Then i moved to Philly and the London Plane trees are called sycamore, there. I then found in England sycamore refers to ta type of maple. OY!!

I think there's a difference between pessimism and depression. While i am not optimistic, i think my depression comes from a tendency to beat up myself and tell myself negative stories about my capabilities and the things i have done.

[liveonearth]

I agree that depression and pessimism are not the same thing, and yet they are clearly linked. I've written about this in other places, that the *normal* human setting is an optimism bias, and I don't have it. Not being unrealistically optimistic doesn't necessarily make you depressed, but it is strongly correlated. Telling yourself negative stories is definitely depressing, and that is where cognitive behavior therapy can help, in recognizing the downer stories and replacing them with either realistic or optimistic thoughts...

As for sycamore vs sweet gum, you just taught me something! Wonderful. I learned (in a college botany class!!) that liquidambar was sycamore but it IS sweetgum. They are not the same tree. A search reveals that sycamore in North America is genus Platanus, and the Acer version is British. My goodness! Anyway thank you for the correction, love to learn!

[annie_r]

I first knew the name liquidambar because it was a Malabrigo yarn color. I only later found out it was the sweetgum tree. We didn't have them in the northeast.

I haven't tried very hard to get rid of stiltgrass; I'd need to hand-pull it. But I am going to destroy every bit of the thornbushes. I've got a bunch of it in a burn barrel waiting.

[elainegrey]

There were liquidambar street trees in Mountain View that had glorious autumn color. I'm sure someone found one amazing tree and cloned it. I keep looking for any tree as pretty as the ones i saw in California: not found one yet.