Tag: Changing leaves

Crayon Box Season, Again

Dear Liza,

When we first moved to Portland in 2017, I was stunned by the intensity of the fall colors. My amazement hasn’t gone away.

Just walking home from the market is a joy when you pass these lovelies. And I love walking down sidewalks when they become tunnels of ever-changing color.

Doing clean-up at the Blair Community garden is hard work, but I get to visit these zinnias… higher than my head, orange as the sun and very popular with the bees.

Yep, Portland is mighty pretty in the fall… a good way for the trees to let us know they are going to take a nice long nap.

But me, I’m not going anywhere.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Signs of the Times

Dear Liza,

You have started back to school there in Denmark, and your cousins (and all the other kids) have, too. Fall is here for certain. All the signs say so.

The tiny library at Sunnyside School is full of older books taken off the shelves to make room for the new ones.

The leaves are changing all over the place.

Apples and pears are being offered right off the tree (or sidewalk) by overwhelmed home owners.


Sunflowers are growing up to the second floor windows…

And homemade signs are sprouting up, proclaiming faith in the democratic process.

Ready or not, here comes Fall!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Early Fall?

Dear Liza,

We have had a very hot summer here in Portland, and now it seems that Fall is racing towards us!

While some of our linden trees are still blooming (and smelling amazing), other trees have decided to start heading into Fall.

Was the summer too hot for them? Too dry? Or maybe the trees know something we don’t about what this winter will bring.

I’m playing it safe. Alongside my iced tea in the pantry, I will stow some makings for chili. Don’t want to get caught unawares.

Love,

Grandma Judy

On the Cusp

Dear Liza,

It is still a week until Fall, but the weather is starting to change. The awful heat seemed to have passed, though I expect there will be one last Indian Summer heat wave before we kiss summer completely goodbye.

The summer flowers are still blooming…. wisteria, roses, and dahlias.

Summer fruits are reaching their peak… apples, tomatoes, and grapes.

And yet, we are getting rain, lots of rain, cooler temperatures, and it’s dark by seven o’clock. Fall is on its way.

Pumpkins are ripening in the Sunnyside School garden, reminding me that we need to use up the frozen pumpkin purée from LAST fall so we can go get more pumpkins!!

When I grew up in Southern California, all my relatives there lamented the lack of “seasons”. A friend from Oregon once said the bright blue skies of Salinas were “obscene” in January. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Now I do. The seasons changing are like breathing out after breathing in, or hearing the splash after you throw the rock into the pond.

They are what comes next.

And now I understand that.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Changes

moss on branches .jpg
Moss getting fat and happy in the bare branches of trees!

Dear Liza,

I have been busy researching for my story about Portland in The Research Library to see where schools were in 1903, where the trolley cars ran, and what kids did for fun. It has been exhausting and exciting.

I am glad I have inside things to do, because it is very cold and wet outside. Today I went out for a walk and took some pictures so I could show you how things are changing.

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Trees last month

The bright yellow trees I send you a while back have now lost all their leaves, and are asleep for the winter. I feel a little sad seeing them black and bare, but I know they will come out green in the Spring, while I am down with you in Salinas.

Bare tree 2 .jpg
Same trees today

There is also something new growing: Moss, moss, everywhere!

Not just little green frilly bits in the sidewalk cracks, but big fat clumps on the newly bare branches of trees, and blooming on the trunks. I even found a small branch with moss growing all over it and brought it home. I have put it in a flowerpot with dirt and a maple tree seed. Maybe I can grow a whole forest!

 

All is well here, but I miss you very much. I will be happy to see you in January.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Moss in November .jpg
Moss and Lichen on bark