Taste of Fall

...it's not here yet, but fall is coming.  And I eagerly await its arrival.

A few mornings ago when I got up (early of course), I noticed mist coming up off the river.  It's the first time I've seen that this year and it can mean only one thing:  Summer is waning.  It was an absolutely beautiful, magical morning that I had to capture and share.

There are other signs that the worst of summer is over.  The nights and mornings are a bit cooler and the days are getting shorter.  Even the light is different.  For me, this is the best time of the year and I savor every moment of it.

Tropical Storm Hermine

Wow...did she pack a punch!  My husband and I were out of town last week and didn't get home until Monday. We were very busy with family over the weekend and didn't pay much attention to the weather.  It wasn't until we got home that we realized a tropical storm was quickly heading our way, barely giving us enough time to secure the patio and pool furniture.  And overnight Monday, Tropical Storm Hermine hit us hard. 

It was crazy.  We've lived in this house for more than five years and we've never been through a storm like this one.  The wind was unbelievable.  All the windows on the back side of the house (and I have a lot of very tall windows) were shaking like I've never seen.  I swear there were wind gusts of up to 40-50 MPH and that went on for a number of hours.  And the rain was relentless.  When I checked the rain gauge yesterday morning, we had received more than 5 1/2 inches since Monday night...and more rain was expected. 

When what appeared to be the main punch of the storm had passed (and in between downpours), I quickly went outside to see how my garden weathered the storm and I was pleasantly surprised.  The pepper plants were seriously blown around as were the young broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprout transplants; but all in all, everything  came through OK.  Take a look.

 

Wednesday morning I took a long, slow walk around the property (in between serious rain showers) to see if there were any downed trees, broken tree limbs, etc, but found no damage other than a bunch of ball moss scattered around and lots of small broken tree branches.  The wind also blew the wire cage away from my fig tree.  Not fatal, but it could have been more destructive than what it was.

Needless to say, I was pleased with what I found.  No major damage.  But it was pretty scary.  Thank God my sister was here at the house with me.  I'm not usually afraid of storms, but this one was actually pretty terrifying.   My wonderful husband was out of town (actually, he was sitting in an airplane on a runway waiting to fly to Houston).  It was not a pleasant experience for him either. 

When it was all over, Tropical Storm Hermine dumped almost seven inches of rain on us here in the hills of Boerne.  But the sun broke through Wednesday evening and the skies began to clear, blessing us with some incredible cloud formations.

Considering the damage this storm brought to many parts of South Texas, we consider ourselves quite lucky to have come through it relatively unscathed.  There is sunshine predicted for the balance of the week and I'm sure all the new transplants and tiny seedlings in my garden will be thankful for the storm, the rain that it brought and the sunshine yet to come.  Thank you, dear Universe.

Another Beautiful Storm...

...I hope you guys don't mind another post of a stormy Texas night, but I really wanted to share this one.  A few days ago we had another of those incredible, beautiful, almost biblical thunderstorms here in the hills.  When these storms begin to form, I can't resist grabbing my camera and capturing this incredible event.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

It thundered and lightening for a good while.  It was amazing to drink it all in and almost feel like part of the storm.  I was mesmerized.  This storm came in from the Northwest and after about 30 minutes of an incredible light and sound show, the rains came...

 

Stormy Texas Night

I know...I know...what do floods and stormy nights have to do with gardening?  This is a gardening blog after all.  Hmmm...not sure about that?  But here in the hills of South Texas the weather is dramatic, beautiful and fleeting; and I embrace each and every gift the hills give, be that raging high waters or breathtaking skies before a storm. 

Last Saturday was one of those nights.  It had been raining pretty hard all week and Saturday night ushered in an incredible thunder storm.  My husband and I were lucky enough to sit on the back patio with a glass of wine and watch the storm roll in.  I can't remember the last time I saw such beautiful, take-your-breath-away-cloud formations.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

(Click on each picture to enlarge it...much cooler effect)

 

 

The gifts of the Universe should be embraced, savored and become part of one's soul.  Witnessing this storm was indeed a gift.