While there is much to look forward to during upcoming my South Dakota journey, day-to-day life goes on and demands my attention.
My reality today dealt with the fact that when I return from my trip, it will be the second week of October.
In Western New York, that means the arrival of snow is an imminent possibility and a plant-killing frost is pretty much a definite.
While I don't have acres of gardens anymore, I do have a porch filled with plants and flowers that I nurture all summer and then welcome into my dining room to endure winter and wait out the return of warmth and sunshine.
While my time right now is fully booked, I knew leaving my plants on the porch until my return would be tempting the weather fates.
So today I transitioned the porch furniture, cushions, pillows and rug to their respective storage places and brought all my plants into the kitchen to clip, pinch and transplant for their winter hiatus.
Of course, more than a few other of life’s realities interrupted my "gardening” task. As a result, my outdoor-to-indoor plant transition took more of my precious , pre-trip time than I’d planned.
Yet by the end of the day, my dining room was filled with greens and flowers and the promise of summertime beauty, no matter when Mother Nature commands the arrival of wintry weather.