Design

Leaving for work this morning, the light was perfect -- soft and mellow. The young coral honeysuckle next to the gate is thriving, and in full flower. And through the gate (or really over the fence), the side garden looked lovely, too, cloaked in spring greens, with dogwood white.

In spite of the frigid days in the last week, the morning light has reminded me of tropical places. A pink glow has illuminated hazy clouds, contrasting with crystal-clear air. It's been lovely. The clarity of the air was a definite contrast from the haziness and humidity of Southern Vietnam, but the shock of returning to an usually deep cold spell in the Southeastern US (and a cold workplace, thanks to insufficient insulation and underpowered heat) has made my normally semi-cold-tolerant genes wishing for warmth and sunshine. A dinner of fresh romaine lettuce wraps with roasted chicken, an aromatic brown rice, stir-fried vegetables, with a nice dipping sauce made with fish sauce, lime juice, cilantro, sugar, peanuts, and chilies reminded us of some of the delicious dinners we'd had in Southeast Asia. It was almost like warmth (and sunshine) on a plate.

One of our family traditions is a morning 'hike' on Thanksgiving. Sometimes this is a long hike, in our nearby mountains; sometimes, it's closer. A favorite place is the Clemson University Experimental Forest, created by a federal program during the Great Depression to purchase farming land worn-out from the demands of cotton and corn on hilly slopes. It's now an excellent forest, a mix of ~ 75 year-old oak-hickory forests, planted pines, and lots in between, thanks to succession and forestry rotations. The area around Lake Issaqueena is especially nice, as it's an unofficial natural area - a great place for a morning walk.

The University's Fall break (timed with the November election) gave us a bit more time to enjoy some balmy November weather. Along the dikes, separating Lake Hartwell from campus, we didn't see anyone else until late in our walk. But we admired a cormorant diving, several great blue herons, a green heron, and gulls recently arrived from the coast. The camera caught a striking reflection of fall color surrounding the sand spit, which we hadn't noticed, being focused on the herons, but was a nice surprise. I've been wishing I had a chipmunk photo -- this one gave me a perfect opportunity, foraging for seeds along the dike's rip-rip banks.

We've had just enough cloud cover lately to tinge the early morning sky. The view of our side garden (from my study and out the bedroom door) is always welcoming. But it didn't always look like this, and the power of gardening transformed it from a bleak view to one that soothes us.