enough light to work by

Late summer and early autumn kind of run together around here. I hiked through Sarah Duke Gardens last week and even though I felt warm, I was not uncomfortable. The real guide is the sun. This picture was taken on my lunch hour. I think the sunshine looks like four o'clock in June. That difference makes me a feel a bit melancholy.........but anyway, I am not an astronomer or a poet, so let's move on.

I am a gardener so I do know that shorter days make it hard to finish my chores: dividing perennials, seeding rye grass, digging a French drain, thinning the arugula seedlings. Those boxes remain unchecked. It didn't help that on Saturday, I came home with almost two dozen items from the annual plant distribution event at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh. I now have the charge of deciding where to plant my climbing hydrangea, a narrow-leafed possumhaw viburnum, the mysterious-sounding hidden cone ginger, a false rosemary, and a trunk full of other things that will probably outgrow their assigned seating around the perennial border. Not only is my garden running out of room but I am running out of hours. And daylight savings ends in less than a month.

But if I were caught up with everything I would not have a reason to work in the garden. What is the point in that?