They Call This Winter??????

Living on the opposite side of the planet from which you grew up is an interesting exercise. It challenges the brain in ways you can’t even imagine. While working in the garden today, I had one of those tiny brain farts when I couldn’t remember what month of the year it was. Forty-some years of imprinting that winter is cold and dreary and occurs in November, December, January and February are hard to overcome. Even after four years here, it still feels strange to be doing winter gardening chores in July.

Earlier this week, I cut back the roses and today I trimmed the cannas and split and moved their rhizomes. The high temp today was a whopping 64 degrees F with enough breeze that required I wear a long sleeve shirt and a fleece vest to feel comfortable– Brrrrrrrrr! As I sat pondering how I wanted to rearrange the flower beds, it occurred to me that if I was in the Midwestern part of the US doing these chores, it would mean that a hard frost had already occurred and that snow and freezing temps were just around the corner. That same 64 degrees would have been a lovely fall day and not a blustery cold winter one.

I am SO spoiled living here because the temps so rarely get down to freezing. Winter here means the citrus fruit is ripe and the humans are getting a respite from the plethora of creepy crawly things that are matters of fact during our six months of summer.

Now I just need to find a use for a tree full of lemons. Hmmm……