Seasonal perfection

In a small town, it’s the little yearly reminders that help you keep your seasons strait. Who needs an iPhone when I can run my calendar on things like Lyman's corn maze. From the sowing of the seeds in May to it’s opening on September 1st, it quietly marks the long summer. In the same fashion, Country Flower Farms spookily reminds me year after year when Halloween is fast approaching. I love taking in the view of the farms friendly ghost calling from deep within the field as I meander up Bailyville Road.  Each year, I vow to capture these ghost framed by fall’s multicolored backdrop in a morning mist.  I rush back and forth in the chaos that ensues during schools beginning and the Durham Fair, making a mental reminder to come back for a better look. A small window of opportunity came last week. I would have gotten the full fog effect if losing my keys hadn’t distracted me.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed a meander through the fields and even more so, a walk through CFF’s amazing greenhouse.  My morning stress lifted almost instantaneously as I poked through ferns, cacti and steamy houseplants. The tropical houseplants would remind me to bring summer’s warmth into the house for the long winter ahead.  I looked in awe at the mums beckoning as far as the eye could see.  Another season grew just beyond that with deep green poinsettias just waiting to sprout their red petals. I would snap a few photos and then purchase some plants that I had no idea how to care for. Plants see me and start to shake from their roots in fear of my black thumb. After soaking in the heavily oxygenated air provided by the plant filled room, the rest of the day had me breathing easier.  I swear that people who spend their lives surrounded by plants are healthier and happier. They even had Jack Johnson playing in the greenhouse helping the plants grow. It's places like this that  help bring an imperfect world a bit closer to perfection.