and so it goes...

My beautiful willows are now bare... all the leaves fallen from them. I miss them already. But with the falling of the leaves and the cooling of the air will come a great and wondrous season of snowflakes and sledding... magical walks through a wood covered in snow... and cozy nights spent sitting by the fire. I know this... but I am still a little sad to see the leaves go away.
I spent a good majority of the day today and yesterday out in the garden... raking, digging, bagging and preparing for the coming Winter. It felt good to be outside. It seems to have been weeks since I've had a nice long time outside. But today... it was perfect. I feel renewed.
My raised beds are now empty... no more vegetables and fruit to be had. They served us well over the course of the Summer and early Fall. And my perennials are all cared for and ready to wait out the Winter. I am looking forward to seeing them rise in the Spring.
Bags of leaves and branches are ready to go to the recycling centre. They will be made into compost for the city's use. We have way too much for our own compost.

And so it goes... another year is slipping away. In some ways I am sad, but in most ways I am looking forward to the coming Winter months... Christmas, the New Year and all that it will bring. And to that time once again in late March, when I see the first sign of a bud coming forth. The cycle of life...