Summer may be over but it is exiting so slowly.
Routine arrived in September. Early starts and sleepy mornings. But I am still in flip flops. And as ready as I am to wear sweaters and layers, I am really going to miss the green beans.
I try not to have favorites. I love my son and daughter equally with the same intensity. But this summer, I played favorites in the garden. I let the green beans grow wild. They over took most of the other vegetables. They formed a ceiling over my Mexican cherry tomatoes. They bullied the peppers and cucumbers. And I let them. I never once tried to stop them. They were just so much fun. And very distracting.
It became a game for me. Finding the green beans amidst the green leaves.
I won when I found clusters of them hidden under leaves. I lost when I discovered a huge, mutant green bean that had obviously been evading me for days.
When I was over thinking, pushing too hard and way too deep in my creative head, I went out to the garden.
And came back in with paint splattered pockets full of my of favorite summer vegetable.
Thank you green beans for still playing games with me way into October.
Thank you summer for knowing how to make an exit and lingering just long enough into the next season. I am so grateful for the extra late September days on the beach under a blanket with Michael.
And for that warm October afternoon in the backyard hammock with my tiny friend.
I hope I can make an exit as gracefully as you did this past season.
Linger just long enough to leave behind surprises that are as sweet as indian summer beach days. And be as delightfully engaging as those green beans.