Into the Woods

A rather violent storm blew through during the night. It was the strongest wind I’ve yet seen at the abbey. The rain was blowing sideways for a while, hitting the windows by the bucketful and running off in sheets. There was an impressive light show made by the lightning through the upstairs gothic window. Lily, the cat, ran and hid in her secret hiding place inside the overstuffed chair.

The wind blew almost all the remaining leaves off the trees. This morning, the woods, for the first time this year, are winter woods.

The grass looks fantastic. I’m smug about the fact that my grass is still very green, while almost everyone else’s has turned brown. I’m not sure why this is. No doubt it has something to do with the turf repair Ken and I did in late August. We reworked the bare spots and flung quite a lot of seed, lime, and fertilizer. But I also think that my grass has nice, deep roots and thicker growth. Maybe it’s payoff for the trouble I took to preserve my topsoil after the pine trees were removed early in 2008. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’ve sowed many different types of grass seed during the past two and half years, hoping that the variety best suited to any particular spot would take over there. I’ve always sowed nitrogen-fixing clover along with the grass. And maybe it’s because I don’t mow it too close the way most people do. I was conflicted about having a yard to mow and was highly tempted to let it all run wild. But if you’re going to have turf, it ought to be good turf. I believe I have mastered grass farming. Now on to other things.